Learn Hardcore Swedish: Vi pendlar till jobbet varje dag.

Pendlar comes from the verb att pendla, which specifically means “to commute” – to regularly travel back and forth between home and work (or school).

Vi pendlar till jobbet varje dag.
→ We commute to work every day. (Regular, routine travel)
Vi åker till jobbet varje dag.
→ We go / travel to work every day. (More general; doesn’t automatically imply the idea of commuting, though context can suggest it.)

So:

Use pendla when you want to emphasize regular commuting.
Use åka as a more neutral “go/travel (by vehicle)” verb.

Why is it pendlar and not some other form like pendla or pendlar vi?

Pendlar is the present tense of att pendla for all persons in Swedish:

jag pendlar – I commute
du pendlar – you commute
han/hon/den/det pendlar – he/she/it commutes
vi pendlar – we commute
ni pendlar – you (plural/formal) commute
de pendlar – they commute

Swedish does not change the verb form depending on the subject (unlike English I commute / he commutes). The verb is always pendlar in the present tense.

You also normally put the verb second in main clauses:

Vi pendlar … (subject first, verb second)

Why do we say till jobbet and not till arbete or just jobbet?

Till means “to” (direction towards a place), so you need it here to show you’re going to work:

till jobbet = to the job / to work

Without till, jobbet would just be “the job” (as a location or thing) and the direction would be missing.

As for arbete vs jobb:

jobbet – very common, everyday word for “(my) job / workplace”.
arbetet – more formal, can be “the work” or “the job”.

Both are grammatically possible:

Vi pendlar till jobbet varje dag. (most natural in speech)
Vi pendlar till arbetet varje dag. (more formal / written)

Why is it jobbet and not just jobb?

Jobb is an ett-word (ett jobb). The definite singular form is jobbet (the job).

Swedish uses the definite form here because we’re talking about a specific, known place: our job / our workplace.

English often says simply “to work” without the, but Swedish usually needs the definite form:

Vi pendlar till jobbet.
→ Literally: We commute to the job.
→ Natural English: We commute to work.

So:

jobb = (a) job
jobbet = the job → used for the workplace in this kind of sentence

Can I say Vi pendlar till arbete varje dag instead?

That sounds unnatural.

Correct options would be:

Vi pendlar till jobbet varje dag. (most natural)
Vi pendlar till arbetet varje dag. (grammatical but more formal)

Bare arbete (without the definite ending -t) wouldn’t be used like that in this sentence.

What does varje dag mean, and can its position change?

Varje dag means “every day”.

In this sentence, it’s placed at the end:

Vi pendlar till jobbet varje dag.

You can also move it to the beginning for emphasis:

Varje dag pendlar vi till jobbet.
(Still correct; now “every day” is emphasized.)

When you move it to the front, word order changes to keep the verb in second position:

Varje dag (1st position) pendlar (2nd) vi (3rd) till jobbet.

Why is the verb in the present tense when we mean a repeated action?

In Swedish, the present tense is used both for:

Actions happening right now
- Jag pendlar just nu. – I am commuting right now.
Habitual or repeated actions
- Vi pendlar till jobbet varje dag. – We commute to work every day.

So the present tense pendlar covers both “commute” and “are commuting”, depending on context and time expressions like varje dag.

Could I say Vi åker till jobbet varje dag instead of Vi pendlar?

Yes, the sentence is grammatically correct:

Vi åker till jobbet varje dag.

However, there is a nuance:

pendlar = specifically “commute” (regular trip, typically work–home)
åker = “go/travel (by vehicle)”, more general

Both can be understood as commuting if you add varje dag, but pendlar expresses that idea directly and more precisely.

Can I drop vi and just say Pendlar till jobbet varje dag?

In standard written Swedish, you should not drop the subject pronoun vi. The natural form is:

Vi pendlar till jobbet varje dag.

In very casual speech, people might omit the subject in quick conversation, but that’s not something to copy when you’re learning. Always include vi in normal writing and careful speech.

Why isn’t there a preposition like på or i before jobbet?

You already have the direction preposition till:

till jobbet = to work

If you added på or i, you’d get something ungrammatical here (till på jobbet etc.).

Compare:

Vi pendlar till jobbet. – We commute to work.
Vi är på jobbet. – We are at work.
Vi ses på jobbet. – We’ll see each other at work.

So:

till = to (movement towards)
på / i = at / in (location, not movement)

How would I say “We commute from home to work every day” in Swedish?

You can extend the sentence like this:

Vi pendlar hemifrån till jobbet varje dag.
→ We commute from home to work every day.

Options:

hemifrån = from home
You can also add “and back”:
- Vi pendlar hemifrån till jobbet och tillbaka varje dag.
  (from home to work and back every day)

Is pendlar only used for work, or can I commute to school too?

You can pendla to any place you regularly travel to and from, especially for work or study:

Jag pendlar till skolan. – I commute to school.
Hon pendlar mellan Göteborg och Stockholm. – She commutes between Gothenburg and Stockholm.

So it’s not limited to work, but work is the most typical context.

How would I make this sentence negative: “We don’t commute to work every day”?

You place inte (not) after the verb in a main clause:

Vi pendlar inte till jobbet varje dag.
→ We don’t commute to work every day.

Word order:

Vi (subject)
pendlar (verb – second position)
inte (negation)
till jobbet (prepositional phrase)
varje dag (time expression)