Learn Hardcore Swedish: Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe?

So the structure is very close to English Can I get another cup (of) coffee?, except Swedish doesn’t use a separate word like of here (it’s just kopp kaffe, literally cup coffee).

Why does the sentence start with Kan and not Jag? Could I say Jag kan få en annan kopp kaffe?

In Swedish yes/no questions, the finite verb normally comes first, before the subject.

Statement: Jag kan få en annan kopp kaffe. (I can get another cup of coffee.)
Question: Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe? (Can I get another cup of coffee?)

So Kan jag …? is the standard word order for a yes/no question.
If you say Jag kan få en annan kopp kaffe? with rising intonation, it can be understood as a question in speech, but it sounds more like you are double‑checking or expressing surprise, not making a normal polite request. The neutral way is verb–subject: Kan jag …?

Why do we need both kan and få? Why not just Kan jag en annan kopp kaffe?

Kan is a modal verb (like can in English). It tells you about possibility/ability/permission, but it is not a full action by itself. It normally needs another verb in the infinitive.

kan = can
få = get / receive / be allowed to have

So the real action is få. The pattern is:

kan
- få
  - object
    → Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe?

You can’t say Kan jag en annan kopp kaffe? because there is no main verb there.
It would be like saying in English Can I another cup of coffee? – the verb get/have is missing. Swedish solves this with få.

What is the difference between Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe? and Får jag en annan kopp kaffe?

Both are very natural ways to ask for another cup of coffee.

Kan jag få …?
Literally Can I get …? / Can I have …?
Very common and polite in cafés and restaurants.
Får jag …?
Literally Am I allowed (to have) …?
Also common and polite, maybe a tiny bit more direct/compact.

In normal everyday situations (ordering in a café, at someone’s home, etc.), they are both acceptable and don’t feel very different in politeness.

If you want to sound extra soft and polite, you can say:

Skulle jag kunna få en annan kopp kaffe?
(Could I possibly get another cup of coffee?)

Why do we say få (“get”) and not ha (“have”)? In English we say Can I have another cup of coffee?

Swedish usually uses få in polite requests for things you want someone to give or serve you:

Kan jag få en kaffe?
Kan vi få menyn?

Using ha here is possible in some contexts but changes the feel:

Kan jag ha en annan kopp kaffe?
This would usually be interpreted more as Is it possible that I have another cup of coffee? (for example, in a discussion of rules, diets, or schedules), not as a straightforward order in a café.

So the idiomatic “ordering formula” is kan/får + (jag/vi) + få + object.

Why is it en annan and not just annan? What does annan really mean?

Annan means another / other / different, but it is still an adjective and needs an article before the noun in this sentence.

en annan kopp = another/different cup (common‑gender noun)
ett annat glas = another/different glass (neuter noun)

You generally need:

en/ett (indefinite article) + annan/annat/andra
- noun

So:

en annan kopp kaffe = another cup of coffee
ett annat bord, tack = another table, please

You can’t say Kan jag få annan kopp kaffe? in standard Swedish; it sounds ungrammatical.

What is the difference between en annan kopp kaffe, en till kopp kaffe, and mer kaffe?

They all involve “more coffee”, but with different nuances:

en annan kopp kaffe
Literally another/different cup of coffee.
Common meanings:
- A second cup after finishing the first.
- A replacement cup (e.g. the first one was cold or wrong). Context usually clarifies.
en till kopp kaffe / en kopp kaffe till
Literally one more cup of coffee.
Emphasises an additional cup, not a replacement. Very natural for “another cup” when you want more of the same.
mer kaffe
Literally more coffee.
Often means more coffee in the same cup:
- Kan jag få mer kaffe? = Can I get more coffee (in this cup)? If you want explicitly a new cup, en till kopp kaffe or en annan kopp kaffe is safer.

In a café, en till kopp kaffe is often the clearest way to say another cup in the sense of an additional serving.

Why is it en kopp and not koppen? When would I use koppen?

Kopp behaves like English cup with a cup vs the cup:

en kopp = a cup
koppen = the cup

In Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe?, you are asking for another (unspecified) cup, so you use the indefinite form en kopp.

You would use koppen when you mean a specific, known cup:

Kan jag få koppen? = Can I have the cup? (that specific one)
Ställ koppen på bordet. = Put the cup on the table.

Why is there no word for of (like cup of coffee) and why doesn’t kaffe have an article?

Swedish often expresses measures like cup of coffee, glass of milk, slice of bread as two nouns in a row:

en kopp kaffe = a cup (of) coffee
ett glas mjölk = a glass (of) milk
en skiva bröd = a slice (of) bread

There is no preposition like of here.

Kaffe is a mass noun in this use, like coffee in English in I drink coffee. You normally don’t put an article on it in this kind of measure expression.

So en kopp kaffe is literally a cup coffee, but corresponds to a cup of coffee in English.

If I want to add an adjective like “large”, where do I put it? Is Kan jag få en annan stor kopp kaffe? correct?

Yes, Kan jag få en annan stor kopp kaffe? is correct.

The usual order with multiple adjectives is:

Article: en / ett
Determiner like annan / denna / samma (another / this / same)
Adjective(s): stor, liten, svart, …
Noun: kopp
Following noun: kaffe

So you can say:

Kan jag få en stor kopp kaffe? = a large cup of coffee
Kan jag få en annan stor kopp kaffe? = another large cup of coffee
Kan jag få en annan liten kopp kaffe? = another small cup of coffee

How polite does Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe? sound? Do I need tack or something else to be polite?

Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe? is already polite and completely normal when talking to staff in a café or restaurant.

To make it sound extra courteous, Swedes very often add tack:

Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe, tack?
(Can I get another cup of coffee, please?)

You can also choose a “softer” modal:

Skulle jag kunna få en annan kopp kaffe, tack?
(Could I possibly get another cup of coffee, please?)

But in most ordinary situations, Kan jag få …, tack? is perfectly polite.

How is this sentence pronounced, and where does the stress fall?

Very roughly (in English-style spelling):

Kan – like cun (short a, not like English can with a long vowel)
jag – in standard Swedish often like yah (the g is usually silent here)
få – like fo with a long vowel, similar to English foe
en – like en
annan – AN-nan (stress on the first syllable, both a short)
kopp – like kop with short o, similar to cop; the double pp keeps the vowel short
kaffe – KAF-fe, stress on the first syllable, both a and e short

Main stress in the phrase falls on ANnan and KOPP or KAFfe, depending on what you emphasise:

Neutral: Kan jag FÅ en ANnan KOPP KAFfe?
Natural speech often reduces kan jag quite a bit and keeps clearer stress on the content words annan, kopp, kaffe.

Are there shorter or more casual ways to say the same thing?

Yes, in everyday speech you’ll often hear shorter versions, especially if the context is clear:

En kopp kaffe till, tack.
= Another cup of coffee, please.
En till kaffe, tack.
(Very casual, in many cafés this is fine.)
En annan kaffe, tack.
Colloquially you might hear this, but en annan kopp kaffe or en till kaffe is more standard.

The full Kan jag få en annan kopp kaffe, tack? is neutral and works in almost any context, including more formal ones.