Learn Hardcore Swedish: Efter filmen ger mamman henne en lång kram så att hon slutar gråta. - After the movie the mother gives her a long hug so that she stops crying.

Here the subject mamman is first, so ger is still in second position. That’s the core rule: no matter what comes first, the verb comes second.

Why is it filmen and not just film or en film in Efter filmen?

Filmen is the definite form of film:

en film = a film / a movie
filmen = the film / the movie

In Swedish, the definite article is usually a suffix on the noun (-en, -n, -et, -t), not a separate word like English the.

Efter filmen literally means “after the movie” – i.e., after that particular movie that both speaker and listener know about.

Using:

efter en film = after a movie (any movie, more generic)
efter film (without article) is generally not idiomatic here; you want the definite form for a specific event.

Why is it mamman and not just mamma?

Same idea as with filmen: mamman is the definite form of mamma.

mamma = mother / mom (indefinite)
mamman = the mother / the mom (definite, a specific one)

In context, mamman is usually understood as “the mother” of the child in question, often close to “her mom”.

Examples:

Mamman ger henne en kram.
The (girl’s) mother gives her a hug.
En mamma ger sin dotter en kram.
A mother gives her daughter a hug.

So the sentence is about a specific mother that has already been identified in the story or situation.

Why is it henne and not hon or hennes?

Swedish personal pronouns change form depending on their grammatical role:

hon = she (subject form)
henne = her (object form)
hennes = her / hers (possessive form)

In ger mamman henne en lång kram:

mamman is the subject (the one doing the action).
henne is the object (the one receiving the hug).

So you must use the object form henne:

Mamman kramar henne. – The mother hugs her.
Hon kramar henne. – She hugs her.
Hon kramar sin dotter. – She hugs her (own) daughter.

If it were “she gives a long hug” and she was the subject, you would use hon:

Hon ger henne en lång kram. – She gives her a long hug.

And hennes would be for possession:

Hennes mamma ger henne en lång kram.
Her mother gives her a long hug.

Who does hon refer to in så att hon slutar gråta? The mother or the girl?

Grammatically, hon could refer to either:

mamman (the mother)
henne (the girl)

Swedish pronouns often rely on context for clarity. In a normal story, this sentence would almost always be interpreted as:

The girl is crying, and
The mother gives her a hug
so that the girl stops crying.

So here hon most naturally refers to henne, the girl.

If you wanted to make it clearer in Swedish, you could say:

… så att flickan slutar gråta. – so that the girl stops crying.
… så att hon själv slutar gråta. – so that she herself stops crying (emphasizing “she herself”).

If you really meant the mother stops crying, the sentence alone would be ambiguous; you’d need extra context or emphasis in the surrounding text.

Why not just say Mamman kramar henne instead of ger henne en lång kram?

Both are correct, but they have slightly different flavors:

Mamman kramar henne.
- Uses the verb kramar (to hug).
- Neutral statement: “The mother hugs her.”
Mamman ger henne en lång kram.
- Uses the verb ger (gives) + noun en kram (a hug).
- Slightly more vivid/idiomatic, especially when you add detail:
  - en lång kram – a long hug
  - en varm kram – a warm hug
  - en stor kram – a big hug

In everyday speech, both patterns are common. But “ge (någon) en kram” is a very natural way to say “give (someone) a hug”, and works especially nicely when you want to qualify the hug (en lång kram).

Why is it en lång kram and not ett lång kram or långa kram?

The form of the adjective (lång, långt, långa) depends on the noun:

Gender (en/ett)
- en kram (common gender) → en lång kram
- ett brev (neuter) → ett långt brev
Number and definiteness
- indefinite singular:
  - en kram → en lång kram
  - ett brev → ett långt brev
- definite singular or plural:
  - kramen / kramarna → den långa kramen, de långa kramarna
  - brevet / breven → det långa brevet, de långa breven

So here:

kram is an en-word (common gender),
It’s singular and indefinite,
So you use lång: en lång kram.

What does så att do here? Is it like English “so that”?

Yes. Så att introduces a subordinate clause that expresses:

purpose: in order to…
or
result: so that… / with the result that…

In your sentence:

…ger mamman henne en lång kram – main clause
så att hon slutar gråta – subordinate clause

This can be understood as:

“…so that she stops crying” (purpose: the goal is to make her stop), or
“…so that she stops crying” (result: this is what happens).

Word order in the så att clause is subject–verb (not V2 as in main clauses):

hon slutar gråta (Subject–Verb–Rest)
not
slutar hon gråta (that would be main-clause word order, like a question).

Why is it slutar gråta and not slutar att gråta?

Both forms are possible:

slutar gråta
slutar att gråta

In modern Swedish, att is often optional before infinitive verbs, especially after certain common verbs like:

börja (start) – börja läsa / börja att läsa
fortsätta (continue) – fortsätta läsa / fortsätta att läsa
sluta (stop) – sluta gråta / sluta att gråta

Sluta gråta is more common and feels more natural and fluent in everyday speech:

Hon slutar gråta. – She stops crying.

Sluta att gråta can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, but it’s not wrong.

Why is the verb in the present tense (ger, slutar) even though the movie is already over (Efter filmen)?

Swedish, like English, can use the present tense for:

General truths / habits
- Efter filmen ger mamman henne en lång kram.
  Could mean: After the movie (whenever they watch it), the mother gives her a long hug.
“Narrative present” (historical present)
Used in storytelling to make events feel vivid and immediate, even if they happened in the past. English does this too:
- So after the movie, the mom gives her a long hug, and she stops crying.

If you want plain past, you use the preterite:

Efter filmen gav mamman henne en lång kram så att hon slutade gråta.
After the movie, the mother gave her a long hug so that she stopped crying.

So the given sentence doesn’t have to be past; it can be habitual or narrative present, depending on context.

Could I move efter filmen to the end and say Mamman ger henne en lång kram efter filmen?

Yes, that is completely correct:

Mamman ger henne en lång kram efter filmen.

Differences:

Efter filmen ger mamman henne en lång kram…
– Emphasizes the time frame first (“After the movie…”).
Mamman ger henne en lång kram efter filmen…
– Starts with the mother as subject, then adds the time at the end.

Both obey the V2 rule:

In the first: Efter filmen (1st), ger (2nd).
In the second: Mamman (1st), ger (2nd).

It’s often a matter of which element you want to highlight at the beginning of the sentence.

Should there be a comma before så att: …en lång kram, så att hon slutar gråta?

In Swedish, commas before short subordinate clauses like så att hon slutar gråta are often optional and many writers leave them out:

Efter filmen ger mamman henne en lång kram så att hon slutar gråta. ✅
Efter filmen ger mamman henne en lång kram, så att hon slutar gråta. ✅ (also acceptable)

A comma is more likely when:

the subordinate clause is long or complex, or
you want to emphasize a pause.

In everyday writing, your original version without the comma is very natural Swedish.