Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon har mycket styrka och flera års erfarenhet som lärare. - She has a lot of strength and several years of experience as a teacher.

Hon har mycket styrka. = “She has a lot of strength.” (no article)
Hon har flera års erfarenhet. = “She has several years of experience.” (no article)

If you made them definite, you would add an ending instead of using “the”:

styrkan = “the strength”
erfarenheten = “the experience”

But in this sentence we’re speaking generally, not about the specific strength or the particular experience, so no article is used.

Why is it mycket styrka and not många styrkor?

mycket is used with uncountable nouns; många is used with countable plural nouns.

styrka is normally used as an uncountable noun when talking about someone’s strength in general.
- mycket styrka = “a lot of strength”

You can say styrkor in the plural, but then it means “strengths” in the sense of individual strong points or advantages:

Hon har många styrkor. = “She has many strengths (strong sides).”

Here, the idea is her overall physical or mental strength, so mycket styrka is the natural choice.

Could I say Hon är mycket stark instead of Hon har mycket styrka? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are correct but they emphasize slightly different things:

Hon är mycket stark. = “She is very strong.”
- Uses the adjective stark (strong) describing her quality.
- More direct and common when talking about physical strength or character.
Hon har mycket styrka. = “She has a lot of strength.”
- Uses the noun styrka (strength).
- Feels a bit more abstract or focused on the quantity of strength she possesses.

In everyday conversation, Hon är mycket stark is more typical.
Hon har mycket styrka sounds a bit more formal or stylistic.

Why is it flera års erfarenhet and not flera år erfarenhet?

Because Swedish needs a genitive -s here, just like English “several years’ experience”.

flera år = “several years”
flera års erfarenhet literally = “several years’ experience”

The -s marks that the years “own” or “characterize” the experience.
Without -s (flera år erfarenhet) it’s ungrammatical in standard Swedish.

Why is it års and not åren in flera års erfarenhet?

år is irregular: singular and plural are both år.
åren is the definite plural: “the years”.
års is genitive: “year’s / years’”.

In our sentence:

flera år = “several years” (indefinite)
Add genitive -s: flera års = “several years’”

You don’t want åren (“the years”) because we’re not talking about some specific, already known years. It’s “several years” in general, so år + -s → års.

Could I say Hon har flera år av erfarenhet som lärare instead?

You could, but it’s less idiomatic and sounds clumsy.

More natural options:

Hon har flera års erfarenhet som lärare. ✔️ (best, very idiomatic)
Hon har flera års erfarenhet av att vara lärare. ✔️ (a bit longer, but fine)
Hon har flera års erfarenhet som lärare i svenska. ✔️ (if you specify the subject)

X år av erfarenhet isn’t wrong, but native speakers normally express this with the genitive construction X års erfarenhet.

Where does the genitive -s attach in flera års erfarenhet? Is it always the last word?

In Swedish, genitive -s attaches to the end of the whole noun phrase, not necessarily to the “main” noun.

Here the phrase is flera år:

Base phrase: flera år (“several years”)
Genitive: add -s to the last word → flera års
Then you put another noun after it: flera års erfarenhet (“several years’ experience”).

Other examples:

min vän → min väns bil (“my friend’s car”)
den gamla mannen → den gamla mannens hatt (“the old man’s hat”)

So yes, -s always goes on the last word in the possessor phrase.

Why is there no article before lärare in som lärare?

After som (“as”) you usually omit the article when talking about someone’s role, profession, or function:

som lärare = “as a teacher”
som student = “as a student”
som chef = “as (a) boss / as manager”

Using an article here would be unusual unless you are making a comparison:

som en lärare = “like a teacher” (more of a comparison or simile)

In your sentence, som lärare expresses her role/profession, not a comparison, so no article is used.

What is the difference between som lärare and som en lärare?

som lärare
- Means “as a teacher” in the sense of in her role / capacity as a teacher.
- Describes her profession or function.
- That’s what we want in this sentence.
som en lärare
- Means “like a teacher”, more of a comparison: she behaves like a teacher, but maybe she isn’t actually one.
- You might say this if you’re comparing her to a typical teacher.

In Hon har flera års erfarenhet som lärare, she really is a teacher, so som lärare is correct.

Could I move som lärare earlier in the sentence? For example: Hon har som lärare flera års erfarenhet?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but the nuance changes slightly:

Hon har mycket styrka och flera års erfarenhet som lärare.
- Neutral, natural ordering.
- som lärare clearly modifies erfarenhet (“experience as a teacher”).
Hon har som lärare flera års erfarenhet.
- Emphasizes her role as a teacher first: “As a teacher, she has several years of experience.”
- Slightly more formal or rhetorical.

In normal conversation, the original word order is more common and straightforward.

Why is erfarenhet singular here, even though we say “years of experience”?

Swedish usually keeps erfarenhet in the singular when it means “experience” in general:

Hon har mycket erfarenhet. = “She has a lot of experience.”
Hon har flera års erfarenhet. = “She has several years of experience.”

You only use erfarenheter (plural) when you are talking about separate experiences as countable events:

Hon har många olika erfarenheter från sin tid utomlands.
= “She has many different experiences from her time abroad.”

Here the sentence talks about her overall professional experience, so singular erfarenhet is used.

What’s the gender and basic forms of the nouns styrka, år, and erfarenhet?

styrka (strength)
- Gender: en-word
- Indefinite singular: en styrka
- Definite singular: styrkan
- Plural: styrkor, definite plural styrkorna
år (year)
- Gender: ett-word
- Indefinite singular: ett år
- Definite singular: året
- Indefinite plural: år
- Definite plural: åren
- Genitive: års (“year’s / years’” depending on context)
erfarenhet (experience)
- Gender: en-word
- Indefinite singular: en erfarenhet
- Definite singular: erfarenheten
- Plural: erfarenheter, definite plural erfarenheterna

In the sentence we use:

styrka as an uncountable mass noun
flera års erfarenhet as a genitive phrase modifying erfarenhet.

How would I say the same sentence in a more conversational or slightly simplified way?

Some natural variants:

Hon är väldigt stark och har flera års erfarenhet som lärare.
(“She is very strong and has several years of experience as a teacher.”)
Hon är mycket stark och har lång erfarenhet som lärare.
(“She is very strong and has long experience as a teacher.”)
Hon är väldigt stark och har jobbat som lärare i flera år.
(“She is very strong and has worked as a teacher for several years.”)

All of these sound very natural in everyday Swedish.