Learn Hardcore Swedish: Efter middagen vill han beställa en liten efterrätt. - After dinner he wants to order a small dessert.

In Swedish, you often use the definite form when you mean a specific, known meal in its usual daily sense, like “the dinner (we just had / are having)”.

middag = dinner (in general)
middagen = the dinner (the one we’re talking about now, today)

When you say “Efter middagen …”, you mean after the dinner (that we just ate / are eating), so Swedish prefers the definite form middagen here.

Using efter middag without the -en would sound incomplete or odd in this context.

Could I also say “Han vill beställa en liten efterrätt efter middagen”? Is the word order important?

Yes, that sentence is also correct. Swedish word order is quite flexible with adverbials like time phrases.

Both are fine:

Efter middagen vill han beställa en liten efterrätt.
Han vill beställa en liten efterrätt efter middagen.

Differences:

Putting “Efter middagen” first emphasizes when this happens.
Putting it at the end is a more neutral, everyday order.

In both cases, the main clause word order (subject–verb) remains: han vill.

Why is it “vill” and not a future tense form like in English “will” or “is going to”?

Swedish doesn’t have a separate “will (future tense)” form like English. The verb vill literally means “wants to”, and here it expresses intention/desire:

Han vill beställa = He wants to order.

If you want to talk neutrally about the future, you often still use present tense or use ska or kommer att:

Han ska beställa en liten efterrätt. = He is going to order a small dessert.
Han kommer att beställa en liten efterrätt. = He will (is going to) order a small dessert.

In this sentence, vill is chosen because it focuses on what he wants, not just what will happen.

What does “beställa” mean exactly, and is there any nuance with it?

beställa means “to order” (in a restaurant, online, etc.).

Han vill beställa en liten efterrätt. = He wants to order a small dessert.

Nuances:

In a restaurant, you might also hear beställa in (literally “order in to the table”):
- Han vill beställa in en efterrätt.
Colloquially, people might also just say ta (take):
- Han vill ta en liten efterrätt. = He’d like to have a small dessert.

But beställa is standard and perfectly natural here.

Why is it “en liten efterrätt” and not something like “liten en efterrätt”? What’s the adjective order?

In Swedish, the normal order with an indefinite noun is:

[indefinite article] + [adjective] + [noun]

So:

en liten efterrätt = a small dessert

That pattern is the same as in English:

“a small dessert,” not “small a dessert.”

Structure:

en = indefinite article (common gender)
liten = adjective
efterrätt = noun

Why is the article “en” and not “ett”? How do I know?

Every Swedish noun has a grammatical gender:

en-word (common gender)
ett-word (neuter)

You simply have to learn the gender with each noun:

en efterrätt (common gender)
ett glas (neuter) → ett glas vin (a glass of wine)

Since efterrätt is an en-word, you use:

en efterrätt (indefinite)
efterrätten (definite: the dessert)

Why is it “liten” and not “litet” or “lilla”? How does “liten” change?

The adjective liten (small, little) is irregular and changes form:

Common gender, singular, indefinite: liten
- en liten efterrätt
Neuter, singular, indefinite: litet
- ett litet hus (a small house)
Plural (both genders): små
- små efterrätter (small desserts)

With definite singular nouns you usually use lilla:

den lilla efterrätten = the little dessert

In your sentence, efterrätt is:

en-word, singular, indefinite → liten is the correct form.

What is the difference between “efterrätt” and “dessert” in Swedish?

Both can be used, but “efterrätt” is the native Swedish word and is more common in everyday speech.

efterrätt = dessert (the course after the main course)
dessert = also dessert, but slightly more formal / restaurant-like or influenced by international usage.

In a normal family or casual context, people will typically say efterrätt.

Why isn’t there an article after “efter”? Could I say “Efter den middagen”?

Normally you just use the definite form of the noun after efter and no separate article:

Efter middagen = After the dinner

You can say “efter den middagen”, but then it sounds like you are contrasting it with other dinners, e.g.:

Efter den middagen ville han aldrig gå dit igen.
“After that dinner, he never wanted to go there again.”

So:

Neutral, everyday: Efter middagen …
Emphatic/contrasting: Efter den middagen …

Does “Efter middagen vill han beställa …” use present tense? How can that refer to the future?

Yes, vill is present tense. Swedish very often uses present tense to talk about the future, especially when the time is clear from context (“after the dinner”) or from a time expression.

Efter middagen vill han beställa en liten efterrätt.
= After dinner he wants to (and will probably) order a small dessert.

Context (after dinner) tells us it’s a future situation, even though the verb form is present.