De har renoverat badrummet i tre dagar nu, så vi duschar hos grannen.

Har renoverat is the present perfect: har + supine (renoverat).

In this sentence, Swedish uses the present perfect for something that started in the past and is still relevant now. English often prefers have been renovating, but Swedish very often just uses har renoverat in this kind of situation.

So:

• De har renoverat badrummet i tre dagar nu = they have been renovating the bathroom for three days now

If you wanted to make the ongoing nature even more explicit, Swedish could also say:

• De har hållit på att renovera badrummet i tre dagar nu

But the original sentence is completely natural.

Here i tre dagar nu means for three days now.

A very important point for English speakers is that Swedish i can be used with a duration:

• i tre dagar = for three days
• i två veckor = for two weeks

This is different from some other time expressions:

• om tre dagar = in three days
• tre dagar sedan = three days ago
• på tre dagar = in three days, meaning it takes that long to finish something

So in your sentence, i tre dagar nu describes how long the renovation has been going on up to the present moment.

Because it refers to a specific bathroom.

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

• ett badrum = a bathroom
• badrummet = the bathroom

So badrummet means the bathroom, not just any bathroom.

This is one of the big differences from English: instead of putting a separate word like the before the noun, Swedish often attaches definiteness to the end of the noun.

Because badrum is a neuter noun (an ett word).

The pattern is:

• ett badrum = a bathroom
• badrummet = the bathroom

For many ett nouns, the definite singular ending is -et or -t. Here it becomes -met because of the noun’s form.

Compare:

• ett hus → huset
• ett rum → rummet
• ett badrum → badrummet

So the ending tells you that the noun is definite.

Swedish does not have a separate form that works exactly like the English present continuous.

So:

• vi duschar can mean we shower or we are showering, depending on context

In this sentence, the meaning is more like:

• we’re showering at the neighbor’s place these days
• or we shower at the neighbor’s place for now

The present tense in Swedish often covers both habitual and ongoing actions.

Hos is used when you mean at someone’s place, with someone, or in the care/service of someone.

So:

• hos grannen = at the neighbor’s place
• hos läkaren = at the doctor’s
• hos frisören = at the hairdresser’s

In your sentence, vi duschar hos grannen means they are showering at the neighbor’s home.

English often uses at or an apostrophe structure like at the neighbor’s, while Swedish uses hos.

Because it means the neighbor, a specific neighbor that both speaker and listener can identify.

• en granne = a neighbor
• grannen = the neighbor

So:

• hos en granne = at a neighbor’s place
• hos grannen = at the neighbor’s place

The sentence suggests there is one particular neighbor helping them out, so the definite form is the natural choice.

Yes, absolutely.

• hos grannen = at the neighbor’s place
• hemma hos grannen = at the neighbor’s home

Adding hemma makes it a little more explicit, but in many situations it is unnecessary because hos grannen already strongly suggests being at that person’s home.

So the original version is natural and idiomatic.

Because de is the subject form and dem is the object form.

Here de is the one doing the action:

• De har renoverat badrummet = They have renovated / have been renovating the bathroom

Compare:

• Jag ser dem = I see them

A useful quick comparison with English is:

• de = they
• dem = them

Also, in modern spoken Swedish, both de and dem are very often pronounced dom, even though the formal written language still distinguishes them.

No. Here så means so, and it connects two main clauses.

That is why the word order stays normal:

• så vi duschar hos grannen

Subject first, then verb: vi duschar

This is different from cases where an adverbial comes first and triggers inversion, such as:

• Nu duschar vi hos grannen

There, nu is in first position, so the verb comes before the subject.

But with coordinating så meaning so, Swedish normally keeps ordinary main-clause word order.

Not necessarily.

In many English contexts, have renovated can sound completed. But in Swedish, har renoverat can still be used when the activity has been going on up to now, especially with a duration phrase like i tre dagar nu.

In this sentence, the second clause makes it very clear that the renovation is still affecting the present:

• så vi duschar hos grannen

That tells you the bathroom is still not usable.

So the whole sentence strongly suggests an ongoing situation, not a finished one.

Because Swedish often leaves that information implicit when the context already makes it obvious.

• badrummet naturally means the relevant bathroom, very likely their own
• grannen naturally means the relevant neighbor

English sometimes uses extra possessives where Swedish does not need them.

You could say:

• De har renoverat sitt badrum...
• ...så vi duschar hos vår granne

But in many everyday situations, that would sound more explicit than necessary. The original sentence is more natural and efficient.