Learn Hardcore Swedish: Vi har motsatt smak när vi väljer kläder. - We have opposite taste when we choose clothes.

Vi har motsatt smak literally: We have opposite taste.
English usually says: Our tastes are opposite or We have opposite taste, so both verbs (to be / to have) are possible in English.
In Swedish, saying Vi är motsatt smak is ungrammatical. The natural structure is ha + smak:
- ha bra/dålig smak – to have good/bad taste
- ha liknande smak – to have similar taste
- ha motsatt smak – to have opposite taste

So you should remember smak as something you normally have in Swedish.

Why is there no article before motsatt smak? Why not en motsatt smak?

This is a very typical pattern in Swedish: with some abstract nouns after ha (to have), the indefinite article is often omitted.

Compare:

Vi har bra smak. – We have good taste.
Hon har dålig humor. – She has a bad sense of humour.
Han har gott minne. – He has a good memory.

You could say en motsatt smak, but in this specific expression it sounds less idiomatic. The combination:

ha + (adjective) + smak

is usually used without an article:

ha bra smak
ha dålig smak
ha liknande smak
ha motsatt smak

So Vi har motsatt smak feels more natural than Vi har en motsatt smak in normal conversation.

What is the difference between motsatt smak, olika smak, and annan smak?

All three can be translated with different in English, but they have different strengths and nuances:

motsatt smak – opposite taste
- Strongest expression.
- Suggests your tastes go in completely opposite directions: if one loves something, the other usually dislikes it.
- Very common in exactly this kind of sentence.
olika smak – different taste
- Weaker/neutral; just says they are not the same.
- Very natural in Swedish:
  - Vi har olika smak när det gäller kläder. – We have different taste in clothes.
annan smak – another/different taste (literally “other taste”)
- Often used when contrasting one person’s taste with another specific person:
  - Han har en helt annan smak än jag. – He has a completely different taste from me.

In your sentence, motsatt smak emphasizes how strongly your tastes clash. If you only want to say they’re not the same, olika smak is more neutral.

Why is it motsatt smak and not motsatta smak?

This is about adjective agreement.

smak is an en-word (common gender):
- en smak – a taste
- smaken – the taste
- smaker – tastes
- smakerna – the tastes

For adjectives in front of a singular en-word, you use the base form of the adjective:

en röd bil – a red car
en svensk bok – a Swedish book
en motsatt smak – an opposite taste

The form motsatta is used:

with plural nouns:
- motsatta smaker – opposite tastes
with definite singular nouns:
- den motsatta smaken – the opposite taste

In your sentence, the noun is singular and indefinite (smak), so the adjective stays as motsatt.

Could I also say Vi har motsatta smaker när vi väljer kläder? Is that correct?

Yes, Vi har motsatta smaker när vi väljer kläder is grammatically correct, but the nuance is a bit different.

Vi har motsatt smak
- Treats smak (taste) as a general, almost uncountable quality.
- Very idiomatic and the most natural choice in this context.
Vi har motsatta smaker
- Makes smaker clearly countable: “tastes” in plural.
- Sounds slightly more technical or analytical, as if you are listing several types of taste.

In everyday speech for clothing preferences, Vi har motsatt smak is clearly more common and natural.

Why is när used here, and not om or då for “when”?

Swedish has several words that can be translated as when, but they are used differently:

när – when (for time, in direct statements and questions)
- När vi väljer kläder – When/whenever we choose clothes
- När kommer du? – When are you coming?
om – if / (in some contexts) when, but mainly conditional
- Om vi väljer kläder tillsammans… – If we choose clothes together…
då – then / at that time (an adverb, not a conjunction)
- Vi väljer kläder, då har vi motsatt smak. – We choose clothes, then we have opposite taste.

In your sentence, you are simply saying at the time when we choose clothes, not introducing a condition. So när is the correct and natural choice.

Why is the word order när vi väljer kläder and not när väljer vi kläder in this sentence?

Because när vi väljer kläder is a subordinate clause, not a question.

In a subordinate clause (after när, att, om, etc.), Swedish word order is:
- subject – verb – (objects/other)

So:

när vi väljer kläder
- när (when)
- vi (subject)
- väljer (verb)
- kläder (object)

If you say När väljer vi kläder?, that’s a question:

När väljer vi kläder? – When do we choose clothes?
- Here the verb comes before the subject (väljer vi), like in English questions.

If you move the time clause to the front, the full sentence becomes:

När vi väljer kläder har vi motsatt smak.
- Subordinate clause: När vi väljer kläder (subject–verb order)
- Main clause: har vi motsatt smak (verb second: har is in second position).

So the word order you see is exactly what Swedish expects in a subordinate clause, not a question.

Why is it väljer and not välja in this sentence?

Välja is the infinitive form (“to choose”).
Väljer is the present tense (“choose / are choosing”).

The verb välja is conjugated like this:

att välja – to choose (infinitive)
jag väljer – I choose / I am choosing (present)
jag valde – I chose (past)
jag har valt – I have chosen (perfect)

In your sentence:

när vi väljer kläder – when we choose clothes / when we are choosing clothes

You need a finite verb (one that shows tense and agrees with the subject) in each clause, so vi väljer, not vi välja.

Why is it kläder and not kläderna? And is there a singular form of kläder?

Kläder is a plural-only noun in normal use:

kläder – clothes
kläderna – the clothes

There is no everyday singular ett kläder. If you want a singular item, you use other words:

ett klädesplagg – a (piece of) clothing
en tröja – a sweater
en skjorta – a shirt, etc.

In your sentence:

vi väljer kläder – we choose clothes (in general)

Using kläder (indefinite plural) talks about clothes in a general sense. If you said kläderna, you would mean specific, known clothes:

Vi har motsatt smak när vi väljer kläderna.
– We have opposite taste when we choose the clothes (those particular clothes we talked about).

For a general statement about clothing preferences, kläder (without -na) is the normal choice.

Does när vi väljer kläder mean “when we choose clothes” on one particular occasion, or “whenever we choose clothes” in general?

By default, Swedish present tense plus när in this kind of sentence usually describes a habitual situation, just like English whenever or when we … (in general).

So:

Vi har motsatt smak när vi väljer kläder.
is understood as
- We have opposite taste whenever we choose clothes /
- We generally have opposite taste when we choose clothes.

If you wanted to talk about one specific time in the past, you would normally shift the verbs to past:

Vi hade motsatt smak när vi valde kläder.
– We had opposite taste when we chose clothes (that time).

How do you pronounce the words in Vi har motsatt smak när vi väljer kläder?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):

Vi – like vee.
har – the h is usually weak or almost silent; a is like the a in father; r is rolled or tapped. Roughly haar with a Swedish r.
motsatt – moht-satt
- mo: o like in British law / more, but a bit purer.
- tsatt: short a like in cat (but a bit different), short t at the end.
smak – smaak
- Long a, roughly like smaahk.
när – something like nair but with ä as in bed, and a rolled Swedish r.
väljer – roughly VEHL-yer
- vä: ä as in bed, but a bit longer.
- ljer: lj is close to an English ly sound; the final er is short, not like English air.
kläder – roughly KLEH-der
- klä: ä like in bed.
- der: short e, and Swedish r at the end.

Swedish also has a characteristic rhythm and stress:

Main stress here usually falls on mótsatt, smák, klä́der.