Vi måste lyfta ut bordet från köket innan gästerna kommer.

Måste means must / have to.

In Swedish, modal verbs like måste, kan, vill, and ska are followed directly by the infinitive, without att.

So:

• Vi måste lyfta ut bordet = We must lift/carry the table out
• not Vi måste att lyfta ut bordet

This is similar to English must lift, not must to lift.

Lyfta ut is a verb + particle combination, often called a particle verb.

• lyfta = lift
• ut = out

Together, lyfta ut means lift out, carry out, or move out by lifting.

In this sentence, it suggests physically moving the table out of the kitchen, probably because a table is heavy enough that you do not just casually take it out.

A learner might think ut and från köket both mean out/from, so why use both?

They do slightly different jobs:

• ut shows the direction: out
• från köket tells you the starting place: from the kitchen

So the combination is very natural in Swedish:

• lyfta ut bordet = move the table out
• från köket = from the kitchen

It is not just repetition. Swedish often uses a particle plus a prepositional phrase like this.

Bordet is the definite form of bord:

• ett bord = a table
• bordet = the table

Swedish usually adds definiteness as an ending, instead of using a separate word like the.

So bordet means that the speaker is talking about a specific table that both speaker and listener can identify.

For the same reason as bordet:

• ett kök = a kitchen
• köket = the kitchen

The sentence refers to a specific kitchen, probably the one in the house or apartment being discussed, so Swedish uses the definite form köket.

This is a very common question.

Use innan before a clause:

• innan gästerna kommer = before the guests arrive

Use före more naturally before a noun phrase:

• före festen = before the party

Since gästerna kommer has a subject and a verb, it is a clause, so innan is the normal choice here.

In Swedish, after time words such as innan, när, efter att, and så fort, the present tense is often used for future meaning.

So:

• innan gästerna kommer literally looks like before the guests come
• but it naturally means before the guests arrive / before the guests come

This is very normal Swedish. English often does something similar:

• before the guests come not usually
• before the guests will come

So Swedish kommer here is not a mistake; it is the standard way to express this.

Gästerna means the guests.

• gäster = guests
• gästerna = the guests

The sentence refers to specific expected guests, not just guests in general. That is why the definite form is used.

After innan, Swedish has a subordinate clause. In this clause, the normal order is:

subject + verb

So:

• gästerna = subject
• kommer = verb

This gives:

• innan gästerna kommer

That is different from some main-clause patterns in Swedish, where the verb often comes in second position.

In Swedish particle verbs, the particle usually stays closely connected to the verb.

So the natural order is:

• lyfta ut bordet

not

• lyfta bordet ut

You can think of lyfta ut as a unit: lift out / carry out.

This is a useful pattern to remember with many Swedish particle verbs:

• släppa in hunden = let the dog in
• ställa fram maten = put the food out
• skriva ut dokumentet = print the document

Yes, possibly, but the meaning shifts a little.

• ta ut = take out
• lyfta ut = lift out / carry out by lifting

Ta ut bordet is more general: remove the table from the kitchen. Lyfta ut bordet emphasizes the physical action of lifting it, which makes sense for a table.

So the original sentence sounds a bit more concrete and physical.