Learn Hardcore Swedish: Han tycker att det är naturligt att skriva ner sina tankar i några korta rader varje kväll. - He thinks it is natural to write down his thoughts in a few short lines every evening.

tycker att
- clause = “to think that / to hold the opinion that”
- Han tycker att det är naturligt …
  → “He thinks (he finds) it natural …”
tycker om
- noun / verb = “to like”
- Han tycker om choklad. = He likes chocolate.
- Han tycker om att skriva. = He likes writing.
  Using tycker om here would change the meaning to “He likes that it is natural …”, which is odd.
tror
- clause = “believes (supposes)” (often about facts, future events, guesses)
- Han tror att det ska regna. = He believes it’s going to rain.
  If you used tror:
- Han tror att det är naturligt …
  → more like “He believes it is natural …” (sounds more like a belief about how things are in general, not just his personal feeling about it).

So tycker att is best here because it expresses a personal judgement or opinion.

Is att after tycker required? Could I say Han tycker det är naturligt …?

The att after tycker is the conjunction att = “that”.

Full, more formal/neutral:
- Han tycker att det är naturligt …
In everyday spoken Swedish, you will often hear att dropped when the clause is short and clear:
- Han tycker det är naturligt …

Both are grammatically correct.

Guideline for learners:

In writing or careful speech, keep the att:
- Han tycker att det är naturligt …
In casual speech, natives often omit it:
- Jag tycker det är bra. instead of Jag tycker att det är bra.

So: yes, Han tycker det är naturligt … is fine in speech, but Han tycker att det är naturligt … is the safest standard form to learn.

What is the function of det in att det är naturligt? Why not just say att skriva ner sina tankar är naturligt?

Here det is a dummy subject (an “it” that doesn’t really refer to anything concrete), just like English “It is natural to write down …”.

Swedish likes having a simple pronoun subject at the start of a clause.
The real “thing” that is natural is the whole action att skriva ner sina tankar i några korta rader varje kväll.

You have two possible structures:

With dummy det (most natural here):
- Han tycker att det är naturligt att skriva ner sina tankar …
  Literally: He thinks that it is natural to write down his thoughts …
With the infinitive clause as subject (grammatically correct but heavier):
- Han tycker att skriva ner sina tankar i några korta rader varje kväll är naturligt.

Version 2 is possible but longer and a bit clumsy; version 1 with det is what people normally say and write.

Why is there another att before skriva? What’s the difference between the two att’s in the sentence?

The sentence has two different att with two different functions:

att after tycker
- This att is a conjunction, meaning “that”.
- It introduces a full clause: att det är naturligt …
att before skriva
- This att is the infinitive marker, equivalent to English “to” before a verb.
- It introduces an infinitive phrase: att skriva ner sina tankar … = “to write down his thoughts …”.

So structurally you have:

Han tycker
att (that)
det är naturligt
att (to) skriva ner sina tankar …

Same word, two functions: conjunction “that” and infinitive “to”. Context tells you which it is.

Why do we say skriva ner? Couldn’t we just say skriva? And where can ner go in the sentence?

skriva ner is a particle verb (verb + small particle), like English “write down”.

skriva = to write (in general)
skriva ner = to write (something) down, to record it on paper/phone etc.

So skriva ner sina tankar emphasises putting the thoughts into written form, not just writing in general.

About word order:

The normal pattern is verb + particle + object:
- skriva ner sina tankar
In Swedish, the particle usually stays close to the verb. You generally do not move it after the object in neutral sentences:
- skriva sina tankar ner sounds unusual or marked.

Spelling:

ner and ned are variants; ner is more common in modern, everyday Swedish.

So skriva ner sina tankar is the natural, idiomatic form here.

Why is it sina and not hans or sin?

Swedish distinguishes between reflexive and non‑reflexive possessives:

sin / sitt / sina = “his/her/its/own” (refers back to the subject of the same clause)
hans / hennes / deras = “his/her/their” (someone else’s, or at least not automatically the subject’s)

In the sentence:

Subject of the clause: Han (he)
Possessed noun: tankar (thoughts) → plural
Correct reflexive form: sina (plural)

So:

Han tycker att det är naturligt att skriva ner sina tankar …
→ He thinks it’s natural to write down his own thoughts.

If you used hans instead:

… att skriva ner hans tankar …
would normally imply writing down another man’s thoughts, not his own.

Why sina, not sin?

sin – used with en‑words (singular): sin tanke (his own thought)
sitt – used with ett‑words (singular): sitt brev (his own letter)
sina – used with plural nouns: sina tankar (his own thoughts)

So sina is required because tankar is plural.

Why do we say naturligt with -t, and korta with -a?

Two different agreement patterns are at work:

naturligt – neuter singular predicative adjective
- The adjective naturlig changes form depending on the gender/number of the noun (or pronoun) it describes.
- Here it describes det, which is neuter:
  - det är naturligt (it is natural)
- For comparison:
  - Saken är naturlig. (The thing is natural.) → naturlig with an en‑word.
  - Det är naturligt. → naturligt with neuter det.
korta rader – plural attributive adjective
- When an adjective comes before a plural noun, it takes -a:
  - korta rader = short lines
  - långa böcker = long books
- So:
  - singular: en kort rad
  - plural: korta rader

Summary:

naturligt agrees with neuter det in the predicate.
korta agrees with the plural noun rader before the noun.

What exactly does några mean here, and how is it different from ett par or lite?

några is a quantifier for plural countable nouns, meaning “some” or “a few”.

några korta rader ≈ “a few short lines” / “some short lines”

Compared to other words:

ett par = “a couple of”
- ett par korta rader suggests about two, maybe very roughly, but often sounds a bit more specific than några.
lite / lite grann = used with uncountable nouns or mass concepts:
- lite vatten (a little water)
- You wouldn’t say lite rader; rader are countable, so you use några.

So några korta rader is the normal way to say “a few short lines”.

Why is it varje kväll and not varje kvällar?

After varje (“each / every”), the noun is always singular, never plural:

varje kväll = every evening (all evenings, one by one)
varje dag = every day
varje år = every year

If you want a plural form, you use alla instead:

alla kvällar = all evenings

So even though you mean something that happens on many evenings, the structure with varje always uses the singular: varje kväll.

Could the word order be different, for example Han tycker att det är naturligt att varje kväll skriva ner sina tankar i några korta rader?

Yes, Swedish word order is somewhat flexible, especially with adverbials like varje kväll (“every evening”). Several positions are possible:

The original:
- Han tycker att det är naturligt att skriva ner sina tankar i några korta rader varje kväll.
  Here varje kväll is placed at the end and modifies the whole action “writing down his thoughts”.
Your alternative:
- Han tycker att det är naturligt att varje kväll skriva ner sina tankar i några korta rader.
  This is also acceptable. It puts more focus on the frequency (every evening) directly before the infinitive skriva.

Other variations are possible too, for example in speech:

Han tycker att det är naturligt att skriva ner sina tankar varje kväll i några korta rader.

All these versions keep the crucial rules:

In the subordinate clause introduced by att (after tycker), the order is subject – verb: det är, not är det.
The infinitive phrase att skriva ner … stays together.

So yes, you can move varje kväll inside the infinitive phrase; the meaning stays essentially the same, with small shifts in emphasis.