Breakdown of Butiken har rea i helgen, så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym.
Questions & Answers about Butiken har rea i helgen, så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym.
Literally, Butiken har rea means “The shop has a sale.”
- har = “has”
- rea = “sale” (in the sense of “discount period,” not just “the act of selling”)
In English we usually say “The shop is having a sale” or “The shop has a sale on”.
Swedish uses har in this expression, so the natural idiom is:
- Butiken har rea. = “The shop is having a sale / has a sale on.”
You normally don’t say *butiken är rea. That sounds wrong. The idiomatic verb with rea for a store is ha (“have”): ha rea.
They talk about different things:
Butiken har rea.
The store is having a sale. It’s a general sale period.Skorna är på rea.
The item (the shoes) is on sale (discounted).
So:
- ha rea = “to have a sale” (store-wide or departmental event)
- vara på rea = “to be on sale” (a specific product is discounted)
You wouldn’t say *butiken är på rea for “the store is on sale” in Swedish; that sounds like the store itself is being sold.
i helgen is the usual way to say “this weekend” (or “this coming weekend”) in everyday Swedish.
- i helgen = “this weekend” (specific, usually the nearest weekend in time)
- den här helgen = also “this weekend,” but a bit more explicit/emphatic
- på helgen / på helgerna = “on weekends / at weekends” (a general, habitual statement)
So:
- Butiken har rea i helgen.
“The shop is having a sale this weekend.”
Compare:
- Butiken har rea på helgerna.
“The shop has sales on weekends (in general).”
Using i helgen here makes it clear it’s a particular upcoming weekend, not a regular habit.
Yes, i helgen can refer to either this coming weekend or the most recent weekend, depending on context.
- Before the weekend:
Vi ska resa bort i helgen. = “We’re going away this weekend.” - After the weekend:
Vi reste bort i helgen. = “We went away this weekend / last weekend.”
Swedes use:
- Verb tense (present vs past)
- The surrounding context (what they were just talking about)
to decide whether it’s “this weekend” or “last weekend.”
If you want to be explicitly past or future, you can say:
- i helgen som var = the weekend that just passed
- nu i helgen = this coming weekend (often)
- nästa helg = next weekend (more clearly future)
In Butiken har rea i helgen, så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym, the comma marks the boundary between two main clauses:
- Butiken har rea i helgen
- många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym
så here is a coordinating conjunction meaning “so/therefore.”
In modern Swedish:
- A comma before så joining two full main clauses is normal and recommended, though not 100% mandatory in all styles.
- Writing it without the comma is common in informal text, but many style guides prefer the comma for clarity.
So:
- Correct and clear:
Butiken har rea i helgen, så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym. - Informally acceptable (but less recommended in formal writing):
Butiken har rea i helgen så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym.
herrar is the plural of herre and feels:
- more formal / polite, or
- a bit old-fashioned, and
- often used in set phrases or announcements.
Typical uses:
- Mina damer och herrar… = “Ladies and gentlemen…”
- Signs: Herrtoalett = “Men’s toilet”
- Clothing sections: Herrkläder = “men’s clothes”
In everyday, neutral speech, people much more often say män:
- Många män kommer att köpa en ny kostym.
So your sentence with herrar is grammatically correct, but stylistically it sounds slightly formal or “written”, or like you’re deliberately using a polite/formal word. With män, it sounds more neutral and conversational.
Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things:
Många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym.
Literally: “Many gentlemen will buy new suit.”
Interpreted as: each man will buy a new suit (one suit per person).
Swedish often uses the singular in this “one each” sense.Många herrar kommer att köpa nya kostymer.
“Many gentlemen will buy new suits.”
This focuses on multiple suits as items. It could suggest:- more than one suit per man, or
- just emphasizes the suits as a group of items rather than the idea “each man gets a suit.”
In everyday Swedish, the singular ny kostym for “one each” is very natural. The same pattern appears in other sentences:
- Alla barn fick varsin bok.
Literally “All children got each their book” = “Each child got a book.” - Tre personer köpte ny bil.
“Three people bought a new car (one each).”
Adjectives in Swedish agree with number, gender, and definiteness. Very simplified:
- Indefinite singular, common gender (en-word):
en ny kostym – a new suit - Indefinite singular, neuter (ett-word):
ett nytt hus – a new house - Indefinite plural (any gender):
nya kostymer – new suits
nya hus – new houses - Definite singular (any gender) and definite plural:
den nya kostymen – the new suit
det nya huset – the new house
de nya kostymerna – the new suits
In your sentence:
- kostym is an en-word (common gender),
- it is indefinite singular, so the correct adjective form is ny:
en ny kostym → ny kostym after the verb.
All four are en-words (common gender).
butik
- en butik – a shop
- butiken – the shop
- butiker – shops
- butikerna – the shops
rea
- en rea – a sale
- rean – the sale
- reor – sales
- reorna – the sales
kostym
- en kostym – a suit
- kostymen – the suit
- kostymer – suits
- kostymerna – the suits
herre
- en herre – a gentleman
- herren – the gentleman
- herrar – gentlemen
- herrarna – the gentlemen
That’s why the sentence uses:
- Butiken (definite form: “the shop”)
- rea (indefinite: just “a sale / sale period”)
- ny kostym (indefinite singular: “a new suit”)
- många herrar (indefinite plural: “many gentlemen/men”).
Swedish has several ways to talk about the future:
kommer att + infinitive
- Många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym.
- Neutral future: a prediction based on current circumstances.
- Roughly: “Many men will buy a new suit.”
ska + infinitive
- Många herrar ska köpa ny kostym.
- Often expresses intention/plan or obligation.
- Can sound more like “are going to / are supposed to / plan to buy a new suit.”
- In many contexts, kommer att and ska overlap, and both can be used.
Present tense with a time expression
- Butiken har rea i helgen. (present verb + future time)
- This is already in your sentence: it’s understood as future because of i helgen.
If you changed the second clause to present:
Många herrar köper ny kostym.
This would usually be read as a habitual statement (“Many men buy new suits”) rather than about this weekend specifically, unless you add a clear future time:Många herrar köper ny kostym i helgen.
Now, with i helgen, it can be understood as near future, but kommer att köpa is more clearly “will buy.”
Yes, in spoken and informal written Swedish, many people say:
- Många herrar kommer köpa ny kostym.
This is very common and normally understood as completely natural.
However:
- Traditional grammar says kommer att is the “full” form.
- In formal writing, many style guides still recommend kommer att.
So:
- Formal / written standard:
Många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym. - Informal / everyday speech:
Många herrar kommer köpa ny kostym.
Yes, Swedish word order is fairly flexible for adverbials like i helgen, as long as you obey the V2 rule (the finite verb in second position).
All of these are correct:
Butiken har rea i helgen, så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym.
Neutral order. Emphasis is fairly balanced.I helgen har butiken rea, så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym.
- Sentence starts with i helgen (time), so the verb har must be second.
- Emphasizes the weekend: “This weekend, the shop has a sale…”
Butiken har rea i helgen, så många herrar kommer att köpa ny kostym i helgen.
- Repeats i helgen; this is fine, just a bit redundant stylistically.
I helgen kommer många herrar att köpa ny kostym.
- Again, i helgen in front, verb kommer in second position.
- Emphasizes this weekend as the time when many men will buy suits.
So you can move i helgen around for emphasis, but the finite verb must remain the second element in main clauses.
kostym in modern Swedish most commonly means:
- a (men’s) business suit – jacket and matching trousers.
Some typical uses:
- en mörk kostym – a dark suit
- kostymavdelningen – the suit department (in a clothing store)
If you want to talk about a costume (for a party, theatre, etc.), Swedes usually say:
- dräkt, maskeradkostym, utklädningskläder, or teaterkostym depending on context.
So yes, compared to English “costume”, kostym can be a bit of a false friend; in everyday clothing contexts it means “suit,” not “costume.”
Approximate pronunciations (Swedish → English-like):
rea
- Two syllables: [REH-ah]
- Long e sound, then a separate a: re-a, not like English “ray.”
herrar
- Stress on the first syllable: [HEH-rar]
- Both r sounds are pronounced (in most accents).
kostym
- Stress on the second syllable: ko-[STYːM]
- y in Swedish is a front, rounded vowel, no exact English equivalent; you could approximate as “ko-STEEM”, but the vowel is different in real Swedish.
These are rough guides; actual Swedish vowel quality is more nuanced, but this should help you get close.