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Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.

Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.
The smell of coffee makes me calm.

Breakdown of Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.

kaffet
the coffee
mig
me
lugn
calm
göra
to make
av
of
lukten
the smell
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Questions & Answers about Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.

Why is it Lukten and not just Lukt at the beginning of the sentence?

Lukten is the definite form of lukt (lukt = smell, lukten = the smell).

In Swedish, when you talk about something in a general, specific, or known way, you very often use the definite form, even where English might use no article or just a general noun.

So:

  • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.
    = The smell of coffee makes me calm.

Using just Lukt av kaffe would sound incomplete or ungrammatical. You need that definite ending -en because you’re talking about the specific smell of coffee in general, not smell in an abstract, mass sense.

What is the difference between lukt and doft? Could I say Doften av kaffe?

Both lukt and doft mean “smell,” but they have different nuances:

  • lukt: neutral or even slightly negative. Any smell, good or bad.
  • doft: usually positive, pleasant smell, like scent or fragrance.

So:

  • Lukten av kaffe – neutral, just “the smell of coffee.”
  • Doften av kaffe – hints more that it’s a pleasant, nice smell.

In everyday speech, many people would prefer Doften av kaffe for coffee, because coffee is usually considered to smell good. Both are grammatically correct.

Why is it av kaffe and not av kaffet or something with på?

av here corresponds to English “of” or “from”:

  • Lukten av kaffe = the smell of coffee / the smell from coffee.

About the form of kaffe:

  • kaffe (indefinite) is used when you mean coffee in general.
  • kaffet (definite: the coffee) would refer to some specific coffee you have in mind.

So:

  • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.
    = the smell of coffee in general.
  • Lukten av kaffet gör mig lugn.
    = the smell of that particular coffee we’re talking about.

Using på here would be wrong: lukt på kaffe is not idiomatic Swedish. For “the smell of X,” the normal pattern is lukten/doften av X.

Could I say Kaffelukten gör mig lugn instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, Kaffelukten gör mig lugn is correct and natural.

Difference in feel:

  • Lukten av kaffe
    Literally “the smell of coffee”; a more “of-phrase” structure.
  • Kaffelukten
    Literally “the coffee-smell”; a compound noun, very typical in Swedish.

Both are fine. Kaffelukten is a bit more compact and idiomatic, especially in speech. Lukten av kaffe can sound a touch more descriptive or neutral. Meaning-wise, they’re almost the same.

What exactly does gör mean in gör mig lugn? Is it like English “do” or “make”?

Here gör means “make” in the sense of cause:

  • gör = does/makes (present tense of göra = to do, to make).
  • gör mig lugn = makes me calm.

So the structure is:

  • [subject] gör [object] [adjective]
  • Lukten av kaffe (subject) gör (verb) mig (object) lugn (object complement).

It is not the English support verb “do” (as in “do you like..?”); it’s a full-content verb meaning to do/make.

Why do we use mig and not jag?

Jag is the subject form (I), mig is the object form (me).

In this sentence, mig is the object of the verb gör:

  • Lukten av kaffe = subject
  • gör = verb
  • mig = object (the one being affected)
  • lugn = what I become (calm)

So:

  • Jag är lugn. – I am calm. (jag is subject)
  • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn. – The smell of coffee makes me calm. (mig is object)

Using jag here (gör jag lugn) would be ungrammatical.

Why is it lugn and not lugnT at the end? Shouldn’t there be a -t somewhere?

Lugn is used here as a predicative adjective describing a person (the pronoun mig), not as an adverb.

In Swedish:

  • When an adjective describes a noun or pronoun (predicative), after vara, bli, känna sig, göra etc., you use the adjective form:

    • Jag är lugn. – I am calm.
    • Det gör mig glad. – It makes me happy.
    • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn. – The smell of coffee makes me calm.

  • -t forms (like lugnt) appear:

    • with ett-words in attributive position: ett lugnt barn – a calm child.
    • or as true adverbs: Hon pratar lugnt. – She speaks calmly.

Here we’re describing me, not how something is done, so we use lugn, not lugnt.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Kaffe luktar gör mig lugn or change it around?

The word order here follows normal Swedish main-clause rules:

  1. Subject first: Lukten av kaffe
  2. Verb in second position: gör
  3. Then rest: mig lugn

So:

  • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.

You can move some elements for emphasis, but the finite verb must stay in second position. For example:

  • Mig gör lukten av kaffe lugn. – Possible, but sounds poetic or strongly emphasized.
  • Kaffe gör mig lugn. – Also grammatical, but now coffee (drinking coffee) makes you calm, not its smell.

Kaffe luktar gör mig lugn is wrong: two verbs (luktar, gör) without proper structure and the verb in the wrong position.

Can I leave out mig and just say Lukten av kaffe gör lugn?

No, that sounds wrong in Swedish.

The verb göra in this sense usually needs:

  • someone/something that is made to be (the object), and
  • what they are made to be (the complement).

So you need mig:

  • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.

Without mig, lugn would just be hanging there with no person or thing for it to describe. You could say something impersonal like:

  • Lukten av kaffe är lugnande. – The smell of coffee is calming.

But with göra, you normally mention who is affected.

Could I use får instead of gör, like Lukten av kaffe får mig att känna mig lugn?

Yes, that’s another natural way to say it, but the structure changes:

  • Lukten av kaffe får mig lugn. → incorrect.
  • Lukten av kaffe får mig att känna mig lugn. → correct.

Pattern:

  • få [någon] att [verb] = make/cause someone to do/feel something.
  • göra [någon] [adjektiv] = make someone adjective.

So:

  • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn. – The smell of coffee makes me calm.
  • Lukten av kaffe får mig att känna mig lugn. – The smell of coffee makes me feel calm.

The gör version is shorter and more direct.

How do you pronounce lukten, kaffe, gör, and lugn?

Approximate pronunciations (Swedish varies by region, this is a common standard):

  • lukten → roughly “LUK-ten”

    • u like the vowel in English book (but a bit tenser).
    • k like k in cat.
    • Stress on LUK.

  • kaffe → roughly “KUH-feh”

    • a is short, similar to u in cup (but not exactly).
    • Double ff means a short vowel a.
    • Final e is like a short “eh”.
    • Stress on KAF.

  • gör → roughly between “yur” and “jer”

    • ö is like French eu in peur or German ö.
    • g before ö is usually soft, close to English y or soft j (depending on accent).

  • lugn → roughly “lug(n)”

    • u is the Swedish u sound, not like English u; more like a tight “oo” slightly fronted.
    • gn often pronounced close to ngn or ng, with the g not fully released.
    • Many learners find lugn tricky; listening and repeating helps a lot.
How would I say this sentence in the past or future?

You only need to change the verb gör; the rest stays the same.

  • Present:

    • Lukten av kaffe gör mig lugn.
      – The smell of coffee makes me calm.

  • Past (preterite):

    • Lukten av kaffe gjorde mig lugn.
      – The smell of coffee made me calm.

  • Future with ska:

    • Lukten av kaffe ska göra mig lugn.
      – The smell of coffee will / is going to make me calm.

  • Future with kommer att:

    • Lukten av kaffe kommer att göra mig lugn.
      – The smell of coffee will make me calm.