Learn Hardcore Swedish: För några veckor sedan kom hon hit, och nyligen började hon på samma kurs. - A few weeks ago she came here, and recently she started on the same course.

för literally means “for”/“before” in this fixed expression
sedan literally means “since/after/then”, but in this structure it corresponds to “ago”

So:

för tre dagar sedan = three days ago
för några veckor sedan = a few weeks ago
för länge sedan = a long time ago

You normally keep för + time expression + sedan together as a unit. In everyday speech, people sometimes drop för and just say några veckor sedan, but för några veckor sedan is the full, standard form.

Why is the word order kom hon hit and not hon kom hit?

Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence.

Here, the sentence begins with an adverbial phrase:

För några veckor sedan (time expression) – this takes the first position.

Because of the V2 rule, the next element must be the finite verb:

kom (past tense of komma)

Then comes the subject:

hon

Then the rest of the information:

hit

So the order is:

För några veckor sedan (adverbial, position 1)
kom (finite verb, position 2)
hon (subject)
hit (place/direction)

If you start the sentence with the subject, then you say:

Hon kom hit för några veckor sedan.

Both are correct; the difference is just what you put in first position.

What’s the difference between hit and här?

Both relate to the idea of “here”, but:

här = “here” (location, where something/someone is)
hit = “(to) here” (direction, where someone is going)

In the sentence:

kom hon hit = she came (to) here, focusing on the movement towards the place.

Compare:

Hon är här. = She is here. (location)
Hon kommer hit. = She is coming here. (direction)

So hit is used with verbs of motion (come, go, move) when you mean “to here”.

Why is there a comma before och? In English we often skip that comma.

In Swedish, you normally use a comma between two main clauses (two clauses that could each stand as a full sentence) even when they are joined by och.

Here we have:

För några veckor sedan kom hon hit
nyligen började hon på samma kurs

Each clause has its own subject (hon) and verb (kom, började), so they are two main clauses. Therefore, writing:

För några veckor sedan kom hon hit, och nyligen började hon på samma kurs.

is standard and correct.

Stylistically, some writers (especially in more modern or informal texts) sometimes drop this comma, but the “comma between main clauses” rule is still a basic guideline in Swedish.

Why is hon repeated after och? Could you say … kom hon hit, och nyligen började på samma kurs?

You have to repeat the subject in this case. Swedish does not normally allow you to drop the subject when you start a new main clause.

✅ … kom hon hit, och nyligen började hon på samma kurs.
❌ … kom hon hit, och nyligen började på samma kurs.

Without the second hon, the second clause lacks a subject and feels ungrammatical to a native speaker.

There are a few special fixed expressions where the subject can be omitted, but in ordinary sentences like this, each finite verb needs an explicit subject.

Could you also say Hon kom hit för några veckor sedan, och hon började nyligen på samma kurs? Is that different?

Yes, that version is perfectly correct:

Hon kom hit för några veckor sedan, och hon började nyligen på samma kurs.

Differences:

In the original, För några veckor sedan is placed first for emphasis on when she came.
In the alternative, you start with Hon, which makes the subject more neutral and the time phrase less prominent.

Both follow the V2 rule:

För några veckor sedan kom hon … (adverbial first, then verb)
Hon kom … (subject first, then verb)

So it’s mostly a question of information structure and emphasis, not correctness.

Why is it nyligen började hon and not hon nyligen började?

Both nyligen började hon and hon började nyligen are possible, but they follow different patterns.

In the original sentence, the second clause starts a new main clause:

nyligen (adverb) is placed first → it takes position 1
Then V2 rule: började must be in position 2
Then subject hon

So: nyligen började hon …

If you start with the subject:

Hon började nyligen på samma kurs.

then hon is position 1, började is position 2, and nyligen comes later in the “middle field”. This is also very natural Swedish.

So:

Nyligen började hon … = emphasis on recently
Hon började nyligen … = emphasis more on she and the action, with nyligen as added info

What’s the nuance of nyligen compared to just or precis?

nyligen means “recently”, without being extremely precise about how recent. It’s neutral and a bit more “standard written Swedish” than very colloquial.

Compare:

nyligen = recently, in the recent past (days/weeks/months, context decides)
precis / just = just (now), moments ago, very shortly before, often more immediate

Examples:

Hon flyttade hit nyligen. = She moved here recently.
Hon flyttade precis hit. = She has just moved here (very recently).

In your sentence, nyligen fits well because the first clause already gives a rough timeframe (för några veckor sedan), and we just want to say that starting the course is somewhat more recent than her arrival.

Why is it började hon på samma kurs and not i samma kurs?

In Swedish, the preposition for attending or starting a course is generally på:

gå på en kurs = to attend a course
börja på en kurs = to start (on) a course

So:

började hon på samma kurs = she started on the same course

Using i here (i samma kurs) sounds unusual or incorrect to native speakers. i is used more for being inside something physically or within a broader context (e.g., i skolan = in school), but courses use på in this kind of expression.

Why is there no article before samma kurs? Why not på den samma kursen?

The word samma (“same”) is indeclinable and it replaces the article; you don’t use en/ett/den/det or a plural ending on the noun with it.

The pattern is:

samma + singular noun
samma + plural noun

Examples:

samma kurs = the same course
samma bok = the same book
samma böcker = the same books

You do not say:

❌ den samma kursen
❌ en samma kurs

So på samma kurs already means “on the same course”, with the definiteness built into samma.

Why is it kom and började, not something like har kommit or har börjat?

Swedish uses the simple past (preterite) very often in contexts where English might use the present perfect (“has come”, “has started”).

kom = came (preterite of komma)
började = started (preterite of börja)

Both actions are clearly in the past with a known or implied time frame:

För några veckor sedan → sets a clear past time
nyligen → also refers to a past event, but still past

In Swedish, when a specific or clear time reference is given, the preterite is the normal choice, even if the situation still has relevance now. So:

För några veckor sedan kom hon hit.
(Using har kommit here would sound odd.)
Nyligen började hon på samma kurs.
(har börjat is possible in other contexts, but with nyligen
- a simple narrative, the preterite is very natural.)

So the sentence is a straightforward past narrative, and Swedish prefers kom / började.