Efter leken vill barnen dricka vatten.

After the play, the children want to drink water.

Breakdown of Efter leken vill barnen dricka vatten.

• vattnet: the water
• dricka: to drink
• vilja: to want
• efter: after
• barnet: the child
• leken: the play

Questions & Answers about Efter leken vill barnen dricka vatten.

Why is it leken and not just lek after efter?

Lek means play / a game in general (indefinite form).
Leken means the play / the game (definite form).

In Swedish, you often use the definite form when you mean a specific, known activity or event, such as:

• Efter leken = After the playtime / after the game (we just had)

The preposition efter does not itself force a definite or indefinite form; the choice is about meaning:

• efter lek – would sound like after play (as an abstract activity) and is unusual here.
• efter leken – natural, means after that particular playtime / game that everyone knows about from context.

What kind of noun is lek, and how do its forms work?

Lek is an en-word (common gender noun).

Basic forms:

• Indefinite singular: en lek – a game / some play
• Definite singular: leken – the game / the play
• Indefinite plural: lekar – games
• Definite plural: lekarna – the games

So in the sentence, leken is the play / the game in the definite singular.

Why is it barnen here, and not barn or something like barnarna?

Barn (child / children) is a neuter noun and is special because its plural is the same as its singular:

• Indefinite singular: ett barn – a child
• Indefinite plural: barn – children
• Definite singular: barnet – the child
• Definite plural: barnen – the children

So:

• barn = child or children (indefinite, context tells you)
• barnen = the children (definite plural)

There is no form like barnarna; that would be incorrect.

Why is the word order Efter leken vill barnen dricka vatten and not Efter leken barnen vill dricka vatten?

Swedish has the V2 rule: in a main clause, the finite verb must be in second position.

The elements are:

1. Efter leken – an adverbial phrase (time)
2. vill – finite verb
3. barnen – subject
4. dricka – infinitive verb
5. vatten – object

So Efter leken vill barnen dricka vatten is correct.

You cannot say:

• Efter leken barnen vill dricka vatten ✗
  (Here, the verb vill is in third position, which breaks the V2 rule.)

Could I also say Barnen vill dricka vatten efter leken? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, that sentence is also correct and means essentially the same thing:

• Efter leken vill barnen dricka vatten.
• Barnen vill dricka vatten efter leken.

Both mean After the play/game, the children want to drink water.

The difference is emphasis and style:

• Starting with Efter leken puts extra focus on the time.
• Starting with Barnen is more neutral and subject-focused.

Why is it vill dricka and not vill dricker?

In Swedish, vill is a modal verb (like want to).
Modal verb + another verb uses the infinitive form without att:

• vill dricka – want to drink
• vill gå – want to go
• vill spela – want to play

You do not conjugate the second verb:

• vill dricker ✗ (wrong)
• vill dricka ✓ (correct)

So the pattern is:

[subject] + vill + [infinitive]

Does vill mean want or will (like in English I will)?

In this sentence, vill means want (to):

• barnen vill dricka vatten = the children want to drink water

Some notes:

• vill usually translates as want (to).
• Swedish does not typically use vill as a future marker like English will.
  Future is often expressed with ska, the present tense, or adverbs of time.

So here, think vill = want to, not will.

Why is it vatten and not vattnet?

Vatten is a mass noun (uncountable) in Swedish.

Forms:

• Indefinite: vatten – water
• Definite: vattnet – the water

In the sentence, we are talking about water in general, not some specific water that has already been defined. So:

• dricka vatten = drink (some) water / drink water (general)
• dricka vattnet = drink the water (a specific, already-known water)

Therefore vatten (indefinite) is natural here.

Can efter go at the end, like in English …to drink water after?

No. In Swedish, prepositions normally cannot be stranded at the end of the clause like in English.

So:

• English: This is the game they talked about.
• Swedish: Det här är leken som de pratade om.
  (You keep om directly before what it belongs to.)

Similarly, you can’t say:

• … dricka vatten efter. ✗ (ungrammatical on its own)

You must say:

• efter leken – after the game/play
• or reformulate using a different structure, but you still don’t leave efter hanging at the end.

What is the difference between lek, spel, and match?

These three are related but used differently:

• lek – play, often free, imaginative, especially for children
  
  • Barnen leker i parken. – The children are playing in the park.
• spel – game in the sense of a structured game, board game, video game, etc.
  
  • ett spel, sällskapsspel, dataspel
• match – match or game as a sports contest
  
  • en fotbollsmatch – a football match

In Efter leken vill barnen dricka vatten, leken suggests playtime or the (free) play, not necessarily a formal game or match.

Could the sentence also mean After playing, the children want to drink water? Why use a noun (leken) instead of a verb?

Yes, in context Efter leken can correspond to English After playing.

Swedish often uses a noun phrase where English might use an -ing form:

• Efter leken – literally After the play/playtime
  ≈ After playing
• Under rasten – During the break
  ≈ While they are on break

You could also use a more verbal construction:

• Efter att ha lekt vill barnen dricka vatten. – After having played, the children want to drink water.

This is grammatically correct but sounds more formal or written. In everyday speech, Efter leken is simple and natural.