Förra månaden tappade hon bort sitt bankkort, och då blev hon nervös.

Last month she lost her debit card, and then she became nervous.

Breakdown of Förra månaden tappade hon bort sitt bankkort, och då blev hon nervös.

• och: and
• hon: she
• bli: to become
• förra: last
• då: then
• nervös: nervous
• sin: her
• månaden: the month
• tappa bort: to lose
• bankkortet: the debit card

Questions & Answers about Förra månaden tappade hon bort sitt bankkort, och då blev hon nervös.

Why does Förra månaden come first, and does it change the word order?

Because it’s a time adverbial being fronted for emphasis/context (Last month…). In Swedish main clauses, this triggers V2 word order: the finite verb must be the second element.
So after Förra månaden you get tappade (verb) and then the subject hon:
Förra månaden tappade hon …
If you put the time phrase later, you could also say: Hon tappade bort sitt bankkort förra månaden.

What tense is tappade, and what is the infinitive?

Tappade is the preterite (simple past) of the verb tappa (to drop/lose). The infinitive is tappa. Swedish often uses the preterite where English might use either simple past or present perfect, depending on context.

Why is it tappade … bort—what does bort do?

Tappa bort is a very common phrasal verb-like combination meaning to misplace / to lose (not necessarily “drop”).

• tappa alone = to drop (or lose in some contexts)
• tappa bort = to lose track of / mislay / misplace (more clearly “lose”)

Could I move bort somewhere else in the sentence?

Usually bort comes after the object: tappade hon bort sitt bankkort. That’s the most natural placement. You’ll also see pronoun objects placed before the particle (common in Swedish):

• Hon tappade bort bankkortet. (noun object → particle after)
• Hon tappade det bort. (possible, but often sounds a bit marked; many speakers prefer Hon tappade bort det)

Why is it sitt bankkort and not hennes bankkort?

Because the card belongs to the subject hon, Swedish normally uses the reflexive possessive sin/sitt/sina:

• sin (common gender) / sitt (neuter) / sina (plural)
  So: hon … sitt bankkort = “she … her (own) bank card.”
  hennes bankkort can work, but it’s typically used when you want to be extra clear it’s her (not someone else’s) or in contrasts; sin/sitt/sina is the default when the possessor is the subject of the same clause.

Why is it sitt (not sin)?

Because bankkort is a neuter (ett-) noun: ett bankkort.
Reflexive possessives agree with the noun being possessed:

• sin bok (en bok)
• sitt bankkort (ett bankkort)
• sina nycklar (plural)

Is bankkort one word or two, and how do Swedish compounds work here?

It’s one word: bankkort. Swedish commonly forms compound nouns without spaces. The last part determines gender and declension, so kort (card) is the head, and bank- specifies the type.

What role does och play here, and why is there a comma?

och coordinates two clauses:
1) Förra månaden tappade hon bort sitt bankkort
2) då blev hon nervös
A comma before och is optional in Swedish, but it’s often used when joining two full clauses (especially in writing) to improve readability.

What does då mean here—then, when, or so?

Here då means then / at that point (referring back to the situation of losing the bank card). It links the second clause to the first in time/cause. Depending on context, it can feel like then or and that’s when….

Why is it blev hon nervös and not hon blev nervös?

Because the clause starts with då, and Swedish main clauses follow V2 again: the finite verb (blev) must be second. So it becomes: då + blev + hon + nervös.

What’s the difference between blev and var in this kind of sentence?

blev is the past of bli and means became / got (a change of state).
var is the past of vara and means was (a state, not necessarily a change).
So blev nervös emphasizes the moment she became nervous as a result of losing the card.

Does nervös change form depending on gender/number?

Yes, adjectives agree with the subject in number (and sometimes gender in the neuter singular with -t). But with a common-gender singular person (hon), it stays: nervös.
Examples:

• Hon blev nervös. (singular common gender)
• Det blev nervöst. (singular neuter)
• De blev nervösa. (plural)

Could I replace Förra månaden with another time phrase, and would the word order stay the same?

Yes. Any fronted adverbial keeps the same V2 pattern:

• Igår tappade hon bort sitt bankkort.
• I somras tappade hon bort sitt bankkort.
• Efter jobbet tappade hon bort sitt bankkort.
  In each case, the finite verb still comes right after the time/place phrase.