Learn Hardcore Swedish: Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet. - As a tourist in a new city she always asks for the calmest café.

Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.

As a tourist in a new city she always asks for the calmest café.

Breakdown of Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.

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Questions & Answers about Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.

What is the function of som in Som turist i en ny stad? Is it the same som as in relative clauses (som = who/that)?

Here som means “as” rather than “who/that”. It introduces a role or capacity:

Som turist i en ny stad ≈ As a tourist in a new city
It’s not a relative clause here; there is no noun before som that it refers back to.
This whole phrase is an adverbial that sets the situation: In her role as a tourist in a new city…

So, same word som, but here it’s the “as”–som, not the relative pronoun “who/that–som”.

Why is it som turist and not som en turist? In English we would say “as a tourist”.

Swedish often drops the article with nouns that describe:

roles: lärare (teacher), student (student), turist (tourist)
professions: läkare (doctor), polis (police officer)
temporary functions / identities.

Typical patterns:

Han jobbar som lärare. – He works as a teacher.
Som turist är man ofta trött. – As a tourist, you’re often tired.

You can say som en turist, but that sounds more like “like a tourist (in a stereotypical way)” – a bit more concrete or contrastive.
In this sentence, som turist is the natural, neutral choice.

Why is the word order frågar hon and not hon frågar?

This is the Swedish V2 rule (verb‑second word order):

A main clause must have the finite verb in second position.
The first position can be:
- the subject (Hon frågar…), or
- some other element (time, place, adverbial, clause, etc.).

Here, the first element is:

Som turist i en ny stad

Because that comes first, the finite verb frågar must come second:

1st: Som turist i en ny stad
2nd: frågar (finite verb)
3rd: hon (subject)

If you start with the subject instead, you get:

Hon frågar alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.

Both are correct; the difference is which element you want to put in focus at the beginning.

Why is alltid placed after hon: frågar hon alltid? Could I move alltid somewhere else?

In a normal main clause, sentence adverbs like alltid usually go in the “middle field”:

after the finite verb in inverted word order,
or after the subject when the subject is in first place.

In this sentence with inversion:

Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.
- finite verb: frågar
- subject: hon
- sentence adverb: alltid

Common placement patterns:

Hon frågar alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.
Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.

Other positions are possible, but they easily sound marked or unnatural:

Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon efter det lugnaste caféet alltid. – feels odd, not standard.

So the given placement (frågar hon alltid) is the normal, idiomatic pattern.

What exactly does fråga efter mean, and how is it different from just fråga?

fråga by itself = to ask (a question).
- Hon frågar vad klockan är. – She asks what time it is.
fråga efter (något) = to ask for / ask about (something), usually to try to get or find something:
- Hon frågar efter vägen. – She asks for directions.
- Han frågade efter chefen. – He asked for the manager.
- Som turist… frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet. – She asks for the calmest café (to find it / be shown it).

Close relatives:

fråga om = ask about something in a more general/information sense.
be om = explicitly request something (ask someone to give/do it).

Here fråga efter is natural because she is looking for a particular café.

Why is it det lugnaste caféet and not just det lugnaste café or lugnaste caféet?

This shows two key Swedish patterns:

Definite superlative needs an article:
- Superlative + noun in a specific/definite sense takes den/det/de:
  - det lugnaste caféet – the calmest café (a particular one)
  - den högsta byggnaden – the tallest building
Double definiteness with adjectives:
When you have:
- an adjective +
- a definite noun,
  you usually get two definite markers:
- det (definite article) + lugnaste (superlative adjective) + caféet (definite noun)
- Similarly: den stora bilen, den nya boken, det bästa huset.

So:

det lugnaste café – wrong (noun is missing its definite ending)
lugnaste caféet – understandable, but in standard Swedish you need the article det with this kind of superlative.
det lugnaste caféet – correct, natural Swedish.

How is the superlative lugnaste formed, and what are the related forms?

The adjective lugn (calm, quiet) compares like this:

Positive: lugn – calm
Comparative: lugnare – calmer
Superlative (indefinite / predicative): lugnast – calmest
Superlative (attributive, with article): lugnaste – as in det lugnaste caféet

Patterns:

Indefinite superlative, predicative:
- Det här caféet är lugnast. – This café is (the) calmest.
Definite superlative before a noun (attributive):
- det lugnaste caféet – the calmest café
- den lugnaste staden – the calmest city

So -ast for base superlative (lugnast), and -aste when used before a definite noun with an article (det lugnaste caféet).

What gender is café, and how does that affect det and caféet?

Café is an ett‑word (neuter):

ett café – a café
caféet – the café

Because it’s an ett‑word, the neuter definite article is used with the adjective:

det lugnaste caféet
- det – neuter definite article
- lugnaste – superlative adjective
- caféet – definite neuter noun

If the noun were an en‑word, you’d get den instead:

en stad – a city → staden – the city
den lugnaste staden – the calmest city.

So: the choice of det vs den is directly determined by the noun’s gender.

Why is café written with an accent, and is kafé also correct?

café is the common modern spelling in Swedish, borrowed from French.
The accent (é) mostly signals the vowel quality and stress; it’s pronounced with a clear long [eː] at the end: ca-FÉ.

About kafé:

kafé (with k-) is also used and accepted; it looks more “Swedish” in spelling.
In practice you will see both café and kafé in signs and texts.
The plural and definite forms follow normal patterns:
- ett café / kafé
- flera caféer / kaféer
- caféet / kaféet

In your sentence, caféet is standard and perfectly natural.

Could the phrase Som turist i en ny stad come later in the sentence instead of at the beginning?

Yes, you can move that adverbial phrase, but the word order in the main clause will then change (because of the V2 rule):

Original:
- Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.
With the subject first:
- Hon frågar alltid efter det lugnaste caféet som turist i en ny stad.
This is grammatically correct. It still means the same, but:
- Starting with Som turist i en ny stad puts more focus on the general situation (being a tourist).
- Starting with Hon makes it more about her habit.

You wouldn’t normally put it in the very middle of the verb phrase, e.g.:

*Hon som turist i en ny stad frågar alltid… – this doesn’t work in standard Swedish in this meaning.

So, yes, it can move, but keep the finite verb in second position in whatever main clause order you choose.

Should there be a comma after Som turist i en ny stad?

In Swedish, a comma is not required here:

Som turist i en ny stad frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet. – perfectly correct as written.

Some style guides allow a comma after a long initial adverbial for clarity:

Som turist i en ny stad, frågar hon alltid efter det lugnaste caféet.

…but in modern Swedish, it’s more common not to put a comma in this exact structure unless the clause is very long or complex. So the version without a comma is standard and natural.