Learn Hardcore Swedish: I köket luktar det starkt av kaffe. - In the kitchen it smells strongly of coffee.

Swedish has a V2 word order rule: the finite verb (here: luktar) must be in second position in a main clause, but what comes first can vary.

I köket luktar det starkt av kaffe.
– First element: I köket
– Second element (the verb): luktar
– Then: det starkt av kaffe

This version puts extra focus on the place (the kitchen). It’s like saying “In the kitchen, it smells strongly of coffee.”

Det luktar starkt av kaffe i köket.
– First element: Det
– Second element (the verb): luktar
– Then: starkt av kaffe i köket

This is more neutral and is often the default order when you’re not specially emphasizing the location.

So: both are correct; the original just foregrounds the location a bit more.

Why do we need det here? Why can’t we just say I köket luktar starkt av kaffe?

In Swedish, most clauses must have a subject, even when English would allow the subject to be omitted.

Here det is a dummy subject (also called “formal subject”), similar to English “it” in:

It smells strongly of coffee.

The Swedish sentence matches this structure:

Det luktar starkt av kaffe. – “It smells strongly of coffee.”

If you remove det, you get I köket luktar starkt av kaffe, which sounds ungrammatical to a native speaker; the verb has no subject.

You can use a real subject instead of det:

Köket luktar starkt av kaffe. – “The kitchen smells strongly of coffee.”
Hela huset luktar kaffe. – “The whole house smells of coffee.”

But when you’re just describing “there is a smell” in a place, Swedish normally uses dummy det.

Why is the verb luktar and not something like lukter?

The infinitive is lukta (“to smell”), and the regular present tense in Swedish is formed by:

infinitive stem + r

For most verbs ending in -a:

prata → pratar (to talk → talk/s)
titta → tittar (to look → look/s)
spela → spelar (to play → play/s)
lukta → luktar (to smell → smell/s)

So luktar is just the normal present tense form.
Lukter is not a verb; en lukt / lukter can be the noun “a smell / smells”.

Why is it starkt and not stark?

Stark is the basic adjective “strong”.
In this sentence, it’s not describing a noun; it’s describing how it smells—so it functions as an adverb (“strongly”).

In Swedish, many adverbs are formed by taking the neuter singular form of the adjective, which often ends in -t:

snabb (fast, adj.) → snabbt (fast, quickly)
långsam (slow) → långsamt (slowly)
tydlig (clear) → tydligt (clearly)
stark (strong) → starkt (strongly)

So starkt here is “strongly” – “it smells strongly of coffee.”
Stark would be used before a noun: en stark lukt (“a strong smell”).

What does av do in luktar starkt av kaffe? Could I say luktar starkt kaffe instead?

The preposition av in this pattern corresponds to English “of” in “smell of coffee”.

Common patterns:

Det luktar av X. – “It smells of X.” (X is the source of the smell)
Det luktar X. – “It smells X / like X.”

In your sentence:

luktar starkt av kaffe – literally “smells strongly of coffee”.

If you say det luktar starkt kaffe, that sounds a bit odd; it can be interpreted as “it smells strong coffee” (as if kaffe were an object). Native speakers would usually say:

Det luktar starkt av kaffe. – standard, very natural.
Det luktar kaffe. – “It smells like coffee.”
Det luktar starkt kaffe. – possible, but more like “the coffee smell is strong”; feels less idiomatic than av kaffe in many contexts.

As a learner, “luktar av + [noun]” is a safe, natural pattern to use: luktar av rök, luktar av parfym, etc.

Is there any difference between det luktar starkt av kaffe and det luktar kaffe?

Yes, there’s a nuance difference:

Det luktar kaffe.
– Neutral statement: “It smells like coffee.”
– Says what it smells like, but not how strong.
Det luktar starkt av kaffe.
– Adds intensity: “It smells strongly of coffee.”
– Emphasizes that the smell is strong / intense.

So starkt av highlights the strength of the smell, not just its type.

Why is it i köket and not på köket?

In Swedish, i and på both often translate to English “in / at / on”, but they’re used in fairly fixed combinations with different nouns.

For rooms inside a building, Swedish normally uses i:

i köket – in the kitchen
i vardagsrummet – in the living room
i badrummet – in the bathroom

På köket would literally mean “on the kitchen” and sounds wrong here, unless you’re talking about being physically on top of the kitchen somehow (like on the roof, in a joking or very literal way).

So: for being inside the kitchen as a room, it must be i köket.

Why is it kökET and not just kök? Why is it definite?

Kök is “kitchen” (indefinite), and köket is “the kitchen” (definite).

Swedish usually marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun:

ett kök – a kitchen
köket – the kitchen

In English we say “in the kitchen”, not “in a kitchen”, because we usually mean a specific known kitchen (your kitchen, the one in the house, etc.). Swedish does the same: it uses the definite form here.

You could say i ett kök luktar det starkt av kaffe (“in a kitchen it smells strongly of coffee”), but that would mean some (unspecified) kitchen, more like a general statement, not a specific actual kitchen.

Why is there no article with kaffe? Why not av ett kaffe or av kaffet?

Kaffe is often used as a mass noun, like “water” or “milk” in English.

When you talk about a smell coming from an indefinite amount of some substance, you usually use the bare mass noun:

av kaffe – of coffee
av rök – of smoke
av parfym – of perfume
av vitlök – of garlic

You would use a definite form if you really mean a specific coffee, for example:

Det luktar av kaffet – “It smells of the coffee (we made).”
(refers to a particular coffee that both speakers know about)

Here, we just mean the general smell of coffee as a substance, so av kaffe is natural and correct.

Can I change the word order inside luktar det starkt av kaffe? For example, luktar det av kaffe starkt?

Native-like options are limited; adverb placement in Swedish is fairly fixed.

Natural patterns:

Det luktar starkt av kaffe.
I köket luktar det starkt av kaffe.

If you move starkt to the end:

Det luktar av kaffe starkt. – sounds odd or poetic at best; not normal spoken Swedish.

In most everyday speech, the adverb (starkt) comes right after the verb (luktar) or after the subject if the subject is after the verb:

Det luktar starkt av kaffe.
I köket luktar det starkt av kaffe.

So as a rule of thumb: keep starkt close after luktar.

What’s the difference between luktar and doftar?

Both verbs relate to smells, but they differ in connotation:

lukta – neutral to slightly negative; can be any kind of smell.
- Det luktar rök. – It smells of smoke.
- Det luktar illa. – It smells bad.
dofta – usually positive or pleasant smells; more “fragrant / aromatic”.
- Blommorna doftar. – The flowers are fragrant.
- Det doftar kaffe i köket. – The kitchen smells nicely of coffee.

So your sentence:

I köket luktar det starkt av kaffe.

could be quite neutral (just a strong coffee smell), or slightly on the “pungent” side, depending on context. If you wanted to highlight that the smell is nice, you might say:

I köket doftar det starkt av kaffe. – “In the kitchen, it has a strong aroma of coffee.” (more positive)