Learn Hardcore Swedish: Vi vill bo närmare sjön än vi gör nu. - We want to live closer to the lake than we do now.

In Swedish, modal verbs like vill (want), kan (can), måste (must), ska (shall/will), bör (ought to) are normally followed directly by the infinitive without att.

So you say:

Vi vill bo. – We want to live.
not
✗ Vi vill att bo.

You do use att before infinitives after many non‑modal verbs (e.g. försöka att, börja att), but not after these core modal verbs.

What exactly is the difference between bo and leva?

Both can translate as to live, but they’re used differently:

bo = to live somewhere, to reside, to have your home
- Vi vill bo närmare sjön. – We want to live closer to the lake.
- Var bor du? – Where do you live (reside)?
leva = to be alive / to live one’s life
- Han lever fortfarande. – He is still alive.
- Vi vill leva ett lugnt liv. – We want to live a calm life.

In the sentence Vi vill bo närmare sjön än vi gör nu, it’s about where you reside, so bo is correct, not leva.

Why is it närmare and not mer nära?

Nära (near/close) has a regular comparative and superlative:

nära – near / close
närmare – nearer / closer
närmast – nearest / closest

You normally use närmare, not mer nära. Mer nära is not wrong grammatically, but it sounds unnatural here; Swedes strongly prefer närmare.

Is närmare an adjective or an adverb in this sentence?

Here närmare functions as an adverb; it modifies the verb bo (how/where you live):

Vi vill bo närmare sjön … – We want to live closer to the lake …

If you used it directly with a noun, it would be an adjective, e.g.:

En närmare sjö – a nearer/closer lake (rare, but possible).

In everyday speech, närmare is most often used adverbially like in this sentence.

Why is it sjön and not just sjö?

Sjö is an en‑word (common gender). Its basic forms:

en sjö – a lake
sjön – the lake

In Swedish, the definite article is usually a suffix on the noun:

en bil – bilen (a car – the car)
en sjö – sjön (a lake – the lake)

Here the meaning is the lake, not a lake, so sjön is needed.

Why is there no preposition like till or vid before sjön? In English we say “closer to the lake”.

Swedish often omits a preposition in this type of comparative:

närmare sjön – closer (to) the lake
närmare stan – closer (to) the city

You can use a preposition in other constructions:

Vi vill bo vid sjön. – We want to live by the lake.
Vi flyttar till sjön. – We are moving to the lake (to that area).

But in a comparative with närmare, Swedish normally does not add till:
✗ närmare till sjön sounds wrong in standard Swedish.

What does än mean here, and how is it different from som?

Än is used in comparisons of inequality: more/less … than …

närmare … än … – closer … than …
större än – bigger than
dyrare än – more expensive than

Som is used for equality: as … as …

lika nära som – as close as
- Vi bor lika nära sjön som ni. – We live as close to the lake as you.

So in närmare sjön än vi gör nu, you are saying “closer … than …”, so än is required, not som.

Why is it än vi gör nu and not än vi bor nu?

Both are possible:

Vi vill bo närmare sjön än vi gör nu.
Vi vill bo närmare sjön än vi bor nu.

Swedish often uses gör as a pro‑verb to avoid repeating a verb that is already clear from context. Here gör stands in for bor:

… än vi (bor) gör nu ≈ “than we live now.”

Using gör like this is very natural and idiomatic.

What exactly is gör doing here? Can it always replace a repeated verb in comparisons?

Gör is standing in for the verb bo to avoid repetition:

Full form: Vi vill bo närmare sjön än vi bor nu.
More idiomatic: … än vi gör nu. (where gör = bor)

You often see gör used this way in comparisons or clauses where the verb is understood:

Jag tränar mer än han gör. – I work out more than he does.
Hon jobbar mindre än jag gör. – She works less than I do.

It can’t blindly replace any verb anywhere, but when the verb was clearly stated earlier and you’d otherwise repeat it, gör is a common stand‑in.

Could you just say än nu and drop vi gör completely?

Yes, that is possible and understandable:

Vi vill bo närmare sjön än nu.

However, än vi gör nu (or än vi bor nu) is often clearer and more natural, because it explicitly compares how we live now with how we want to live. Än nu is shorter but a bit more vague in some contexts. All of these are grammatically acceptable:

Vi vill bo närmare sjön än nu.
Vi vill bo närmare sjön än vi gör nu.
Vi vill bo närmare sjön än vi bor nu.

Why is the word order än vi gör nu and not än vi nu gör or än gör vi nu?

In subordinate clauses (like the än … part), Swedish usually has subject before the verb:

vi gör – subject vi, then verb gör.

A common pattern is: [subordinating word] + subject + verb + other elements

… att vi bor här.
… när vi kommer hem.
… än vi gör nu.

Structures like än vi nu gör are not wrong but sound more marked or poetic; nu usually goes later:

än vi gör nu is the everyday, neutral order.
än vi nu gör is uncommon and stylistic.
✗ än gör vi nu is not standard.

How do I know that sjö is an en‑word? Are there other forms I should know?

You usually learn the gender with the noun: en sjö (not ett sjö). Most nouns ending in a consonant are en‑words, but there are many exceptions, so you memorize them.

Key forms for sjö:

en sjö – a lake
sjön – the lake
sjöar – lakes
sjöarna – the lakes

In your sentence it is one specific lake, so the definite form sjön is used.

Does närmare sjön describe where we live now, or where we want to live?

It describes where you want to live. The structure is:

Vi vill bo [närmare sjön] [än vi gör nu].
- Vi vill bo närmare sjön – desired location.
- än vi gör nu – compared with the current situation (“than we do now”).

Now you live somewhere less close to the lake; in the future you want to live closer to it.