Jag blandar yoghurt i en skål, men min syster kokar ris i en kastrull.

Because blandar and kokar are present-tense forms.

• blanda = to mix
• blandar = mix / am mixing / is mixing
• koka = to boil, cook
• kokar = boil(s) / cook(s)

A very important point for English speakers: Swedish verbs do not change according to the subject.

So you get:

• jag blandar = I mix / I am mixing
• du blandar = you mix / you are mixing
• hon blandar = she mixes / she is mixing

The verb form stays the same.

Swedish usually uses the simple present tense for both:

• habitual actions: I mix
• actions happening right now: I am mixing

So Jag blandar yoghurt can mean either I mix yoghurt or I am mixing yoghurt, depending on context.

If Swedish speakers want to emphasize that something is happening right now, they can use extra wording, for example:

• Jag håller på att blanda yoghurt. = I’m in the middle of mixing yoghurt.

But in normal everyday Swedish, the plain present tense is very common.

No. Swedish does not capitalize the word for I in the middle of a sentence.

• jag = I

It is capitalized here only because it is the first word of the sentence: Jag.

So in the middle of a sentence, you would write:

• min syster och jag = my sister and I

not min syster och Jag.

Because skål and kastrull are countable singular nouns, while yoghurt and ris are being used as uncountable substances.

• en skål = a bowl
• en kastrull = a saucepan / a pot

But:

• yoghurt = yoghurt
• ris = rice

When Swedish talks about a substance in a general way, it often uses no article, just like English often does with rice, water, milk, and so on.

Compare:

• Jag köper ris. = I buy rice.
• Jag köper en påse ris. = I buy a bag of rice.

Because after a possessive word like min, Swedish normally uses the noun in its basic indefinite form.

So:

• min syster = my sister
• min bok = my book
• min kastrull = my saucepan

Not:

• min systern
• min boken

This is different from English, where the noun itself does not visibly change. In Swedish, the definite ending is usually not used after min, din, hans, hennes, vår, and so on.

You have to learn the gender of each noun.

Swedish nouns are usually grouped into:

• en-words
• ett-words

Both skål and kastrull are en-words:

• en skål
• en kastrull

There are some patterns, but no completely reliable shortcut, so learners usually memorize the article with the noun:

• en skål
• en kastrull
• ett bord
• ett glas

That is one of the best habits for learning Swedish vocabulary.

i usually means in.

Here it is used with containers:

• i en skål = in a bowl
• i en kastrull = in a saucepan / pot

That is very natural Swedish. If something is inside a container, i is often the right preposition.

English speakers sometimes wonder whether Swedish would use something like on in some cases, but with bowls and saucepans, i is the normal choice.

men means but, and it connects two main clauses.

The second clause still follows normal Swedish main-clause word order. In this sentence, the subject comes first:

• men min syster kokar ris ...

That looks straightforward because min syster is the subject and kokar is the verb.

A useful thing to know is that Swedish is a verb-second language in main clauses. That means the finite verb tends to come in the second position.

For example:

• Min syster kokar ris i en kastrull.
• I dag kokar min syster ris i en kastrull.

In the second example, I dag comes first, so the verb kokar moves before the subject min syster.

Yes. Very often, yes.

The verb koka literally means boil, but in everyday Swedish it is perfectly normal to say:

• koka ris = cook rice
• koka potatis = boil potatoes / cook potatoes

So even if English often says cook rice, Swedish commonly says koka ris because rice is typically cooked by boiling.

Not always.

In modern Swedish, commas are often used a bit less than in English. A comma before men can be used, especially when two full clauses are being connected, but it is not always strictly required.

So both of these can be acceptable:

• Jag blandar yoghurt i en skål, men min syster kokar ris i en kastrull.
• Jag blandar yoghurt i en skål men min syster kokar ris i en kastrull.

The version with the comma can make the sentence easier to read.

Yes, it can.

• en skål = a bowl
• Skål! = Cheers!

These are the same written word, but they are used differently.

In your sentence, en skål is clearly the noun meaning bowl. But if someone raises a glass and says Skål!, that means Cheers!

No. Swedish also uses yogurt.

Both spellings are understood, and yoghurt is a very common one. So if you see either yoghurt or yogurt, don’t be surprised.

This kind of spelling variation is fairly normal with some borrowed food words.

Because Swedish often leaves that idea unstated when it is obvious from context.

English sometimes likes some with uncountable nouns:

• I’m mixing some yoghurt.
• She’s cooking some rice.

But Swedish often just says:

• Jag blandar yoghurt.
• Hon kokar ris.

If you want to be more specific, Swedish can add words such as:

• lite yoghurt = some / a little yoghurt
• lite ris = some rice
• mycket ris = a lot of rice

So the shorter version without some is very natural.