Efter middagen ställer vi gafflar, knivar, skedar och tallrikar i diskmaskinen.

Because Swedish is a V2 language in main clauses. That means the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

Here, Efter middagen takes the first position, so the verb ställer must come next, before the subject vi.

Compare:

• Vi ställer gafflar, knivar, skedar och tallrikar i diskmaskinen efter middagen.
• Efter middagen ställer vi gafflar, knivar, skedar och tallrikar i diskmaskinen.

Both are correct, but the second one puts more focus on after dinner.

In Swedish, meal words like frukost, lunch, and middag are often used in the definite form after time expressions such as före and efter.

So efter middagen is the natural way to say after dinner in this context.

This is very common:

• före frukosten
• efter lunchen
• efter middagen

Even though English often says just after dinner without the, Swedish often prefers the definite form here.

Because the sentence refers to a specific dishwasher: the one in the home or the one both speaker and listener know about.

Swedish often marks definiteness by adding an ending to the noun:

• en diskmaskin = a dishwasher
• diskmaskinen = the dishwasher

So i diskmaskinen means in the dishwasher.

Swedish often uses bare plurals where English might also use bare plurals or where English learners expect an article.

Here the sentence is talking about those items in a general, natural household sense, not introducing them one by one as some forks, some knives, etc.

So Swedish simply says:

• gafflar, knivar, skedar och tallrikar

This is very normal.

Swedish often uses more specific placement verbs than English.

• ställa = put something so it is thought of as standing
• lägga = put something so it is lying
• sätta = set/place something in a sitting position, or seat someone

In everyday Swedish, especially with dishes and kitchen items, ställa is very common when talking about putting things into places like shelves, cupboards, or dishwashers.

So ställer ... i diskmaskinen sounds natural here, even if English would simply say put ... in the dishwasher.

Sometimes yes, but it changes the feel slightly.

Lägga suggests placing something so it lies down. That can make sense for some objects, but with plates and general dish-loading, Swedish often prefers ställa as a natural general choice.

So:

• ställer ... i diskmaskinen = very natural here
• lägger ... i diskmaskinen = possible for some items, but less general for the whole list

Because the list includes tallrikar as well as cutlery, ställer works well.

Swedish often uses just i where English would use in or into, especially after a verb of movement or placement.

So ställa något i diskmaskinen is completely natural.

You can also say in i diskmaskinen if you want to emphasize the movement inward, but it is not necessary here.

• ställa i diskmaskinen = normal
• ställa in i diskmaskinen or ställa in diskmaskinen = possible in some contexts, often with a slightly more explicit sense of putting something in

The sentence as given is simple and idiomatic.

These are plural forms of common-gender nouns:

• en gaffel → gafflar
• en kniv → knivar
• en sked → skedar
• en tallrik → tallrikar

A lot of en-words form the plural with -ar, although not all do. So this sentence is a useful example of a common plural pattern.

Yes. You can say:

Vi ställer gafflar, knivar, skedar och tallrikar i diskmaskinen efter middagen.

That is also correct.

The difference is mainly focus:

• Efter middagen ställer vi ... = starts with the time, so the time is more prominent
• Vi ställer ... efter middagen = starts with the subject, so it feels a bit more neutral

Because Swedish normally does not use a comma before och in a simple list.

So this is standard:

• gafflar, knivar, skedar och tallrikar

That is similar to standard British English and also common in many styles of English without the serial comma.

Ställer is the present tense of ställa.

Useful forms are:

• att ställa = infinitive
• ställer = present
• ställde = past
• ställt = supine / past participle-like form used with har

So in this sentence, ställer means that this is something we do or we are doing in the present-time sense.