Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon väntar ofta på rabatt innan hon köper dyra kläder. - She often waits for a discount before she buys expensive clothes.

In this sentence she is not waiting for one very specific, already known discount; she habitually waits until there is discount. So Swedish can say:

Hon väntar på rabatt. = She waits for (some) discount / for a discount.

This is similar to other abstract or general nouns where Swedish omits the article:

Han studerar medicin. = He studies medicine.
Hon letar efter arbete. = She is looking for work / a job.

Why do we say väntar på rabatt and not just väntar rabatt or väntar för rabatt?

The verb vänta (to wait) almost always takes the preposition på when you mean “wait for something/someone”.

vänta på något/någon = wait for something/someone

So:

Hon väntar på rabatt. = She waits for a discount.
Jag väntar på bussen. = I’m waiting for the bus.

You cannot say vänta rabatt in standard Swedish, and vänta för is used only in other meanings (like vänta för länge “wait too long”), not for “wait for something”.

Where should the adverb ofta go? Can I say Hon ofta väntar på rabatt or Hon väntar på rabatt ofta?

In a normal main clause, Swedish follows the V2 rule: the finite verb should be in second position. Typical adverbs like ofta usually come after the verb:

Hon (1) väntar (2) ofta (3) på rabatt …

So the neutral word order is:

Hon väntar ofta på rabatt.

Alternatives:

Hon ofta väntar på rabatt – wrong in standard Swedish, because the finite verb is no longer in second position.
Hon väntar på rabatt ofta – possible, but marked; it puts extra emphasis at the end, and sounds less neutral.

You can also move ofta to the front, but then the verb still needs to be second:

Ofta väntar hon på rabatt innan hon köper dyra kläder.

Why are väntar and köper both in the present tense? In English I might say “she will wait” or “she usually waits”.

Swedish uses the present tense very broadly, including for:

things happening right now
habitual actions (things someone regularly does)
general truths

Here it’s a habitual action: something she often does. So Swedish present is natural:

Hon väntar ofta på rabatt innan hon köper dyra kläder.
= She often waits for a discount before (she) buys expensive clothes / before buying expensive clothes.

If you wanted to underline the habitual nature even more, you could add brukar:

Hon brukar vänta på rabatt innan hon köper dyra kläder.
= She usually tends to wait for a discount before she buys expensive clothes.

But it’s not necessary; the simple present with ofta already gives the right meaning.

What is the difference between innan and före? Could I say före hon köper dyra kläder?

Both relate to “before”, but they are used differently:

innan is a conjunction used before a clause with a verb.
före is a preposition used before a noun or pronoun.

Correct uses:

innan hon köper dyra kläder
(“before she buys expensive clothes”) – clause with subject + verb → use innan
före köpet
(“before the purchase”) – noun phrase, no finite verb → use före
före honom
(“before him”) – pronoun → use före

So:

Hon väntar ofta på rabatt innan hon köper dyra kläder. ✅
Hon väntar ofta på rabatt före hon köper dyra kläder. ❌ (ungrammatical in standard Swedish)

You could rephrase with före like this:

Hon väntar ofta på rabatt före köpet av dyra kläder. (more formal / written style)

Why is it dyra kläder and not dyr kläder?

Kläder is a plural noun (“clothes”). In Swedish, adjectives in front of a noun must agree with number (singular/plural) and definiteness.

Singular, common gender: dyr tröja (an expensive sweater)
Singular, neuter: dyrt hus (an expensive house)
Plural (indefinite): dyra kläder (expensive clothes)

So for plural, the adjective takes the ending -a:

dyra kläder = expensive clothes
dyra böcker = expensive books

Therefore dyr kläder is ungrammatical; you need dyra in the plural.

Why is it dyra kläder and not de dyra kläderna?

Both are correct Swedish, but they mean slightly different things:

dyra kläder (indefinite plural) = expensive clothes in general, not specific ones.
de dyra kläderna (definite plural) = the expensive clothes, some specific clothes that are known in the context.

In the original sentence, we are talking about a general habit: every time clothes are expensive, she waits for a discount. So the indefinite plural sounds right:

Hon väntar ofta på rabatt innan hon köper dyra kläder.

If you say:

Hon väntar ofta på rabatt innan hon köper de dyra kläderna.

then you are talking about some particular expensive clothes (maybe a specific dress or jacket you both know about).

What gender is kläder, and does the gender matter for the adjective dyr?

Kläder is grammatically common gender (en-word) but is normally used only in the plural.

For adjectives, what matters here is the number (plural), not the gender. In plural, adjectives take -a regardless of gender:

en dyr jacka → dyra jackor
ett dyrt smycke → dyra smycken
kläder (plural) → dyra kläder

So we say dyra kläder, not dyr kläder or dyrt kläder.

Why do we repeat hon in innan hon köper? Why not just innan köper?

In Swedish, you must have an explicit subject in almost all finite clauses, including subordinate clauses. Swedish does not normally drop the subject like some other languages do.

So:

innan hon köper dyra kläder = correct
innan köper dyra kläder = wrong (no subject)

Also notice the word order in the subordinate clause:

Subordinate clause: innan hon köper dyra kläder
→ subject hon comes before the verb köper.
Main clause: Hon väntar ofta på rabatt …
→ verb is in second position.

So we need hon again in the innan-clause.

Could I move the innan-clause to the beginning, like in English “Before she buys expensive clothes, she often waits for a discount”?

Yes. That is perfectly grammatical in Swedish, but remember the V2 rule:

When a subordinate clause comes first, the finite verb of the main clause must still be in second position.

So you get:

Innan hon köper dyra kläder väntar hon ofta på rabatt.

Breakdown:

Innan hon köper dyra kläder – whole subordinate clause counts as position 1
väntar – main-clause verb, must be position 2
hon – subject
ofta på rabatt – the rest

So this word order is natural and quite common, especially in written language.

Is väntar på rabatt the most natural way to say this, or would väntar på rea be better?

Both are correct, but they can sound slightly different:

rabatt = a discount (e.g. 20% off, a coupon, a code, a special price)
rea = a sale (e.g. after-Christmas sale, summer sale, clearance sale)

If you mean she waits for sales periods (Black Friday, January sale, etc.), Swedish speakers would very often say:

Hon väntar ofta på rea innan hon köper dyra kläder.

If you specifically mean some kind of discount (like a code or discount campaign), rabatt is fine:

Hon väntar ofta på rabatt innan hon köper dyra kläder.

So rea may sound more idiomatic in many shopping contexts, but rabatt is not wrong.

Could I say innan att hon köper dyra kläder?

In modern standard Swedish, you normally do not use att after innan.

innan hon köper dyra kläder – correct, natural
innan att hon köper dyra kläder – generally considered incorrect or at least non-standard/very old-fashioned

So the safe and standard form is just innan + clause:

innan hon köper dyra kläder
innan vi går hem
innan du somnar