Om du skruvar för hårt, går stolen sönder igen.

This is because of Swedish V2 word order in main clauses.

The sentence starts with the subordinate clause Om du skruvar för hårt. After that, the main clause begins, and in a Swedish main clause the finite verb usually comes in second position.

So the structure is:

• Om du skruvar för hårt = subordinate clause
• går = finite verb of the main clause
• stolen = subject of the main clause
• sönder igen = rest of the clause

So Swedish says:

• Om du skruvar för hårt, går stolen sönder igen.

Even though in English we would say the chair breaks again, Swedish puts the verb first in the main clause after that opening clause.

If there were no opening om-clause, you would say:

• Stolen går sönder igen.

But once the conditional clause comes first, the verb moves before the subject.

Here, om means if.

It introduces a condition:

• Om du skruvar för hårt = If you screw too hard / If you tighten it too much

This is one of the most common uses of om in Swedish.

Be careful, because om can also mean other things in other contexts, such as about:

• Vi pratar om stolen = We are talking about the chair

So the meaning depends on the sentence. In this sentence, it is clearly the conditional if.

Swedish often uses the present tense in general truths, instructions, warnings, and real conditions.

So:

• Om du skruvar för hårt literally looks like If you screw too hard
• but in natural English it may be understood as If you screw it too hard, If you tighten it too much, or even If you overtighten it

This is similar to English conditionals, where we also often use the present tense after if:

• If you push too hard, it breaks
• If you heat water, it boils

So the present tense here does not only describe something happening right now. It can describe a general rule or likely result.

Because the object is understood from context and can be left out.

The verb skruva often means:

• to screw
• to tighten by turning
• to screw something in

In a sentence like this, Swedish can leave the object unspoken if it is obvious what is being screwed or tightened. So:

• Om du skruvar för hårt = If you screw/tighten too hard

English often does something similar:

• Don’t push too hard
• You’re turning too hard
• If you tighten too much, it will break

So the missing object is not strange here. It is just understood.

För hårt means too hard or too tightly, depending on context.

Breakdown:

• för = too
• hårt = hard used as an adverb here

Since skruvar is an action, Swedish uses the adverb form hårt rather than the adjective hård.

Compare:

• en hård stol = a hard chair
  here hård is an adjective

• du skruvar hårt = you screw tightly / hard
  here hårt is an adverb

With för, it becomes:

• för hårt = too hard / too tightly

In this sentence, too tightly is often the most natural idea.

Går sönder is a very common Swedish expression meaning:

• breaks
• comes apart
• stops working because it gets damaged

Literally, går means goes, and sönder means something like apart / broken. But together, gå sönder functions as a set expression.

So:

• Stolen går sönder = The chair breaks
• Min telefon gick sönder = My phone broke
• Det här går sönder lätt = This breaks easily

Swedish often uses these verb + particle combinations where English uses a single verb. So it is best to learn gå sönder as one unit.

Because sönder here is not acting like a normal adjective. It is part of the fixed expression gå sönder.

Swedish often forms meanings with a verb plus a particle or adverb-like word. In this sentence:

• går sönder = breaks

So sönder is helping form the verbal meaning, not simply describing the chair afterward.

Compare:

• Stolen är sönder = The chair is broken
• Stolen går sönder = The chair breaks / is breaking

The first describes a state. The second describes the event of becoming broken.

That distinction is very useful in Swedish.

Igen means again, and in Swedish it often comes late in the clause.

So:

• går stolen sönder igen = the chair breaks again

Placing igen at the end sounds very natural here.

Swedish adverb placement can vary somewhat, but this position is common and idiomatic. In this sentence, igen naturally modifies the whole event:

• the chair breaks again

So the sentence is warning that the same thing will happen one more time.

Stolen means the chair.

It comes from:

• stol = chair
• stolen = the chair

In Swedish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun:

• en stol = a chair
• stolen = the chair

The speaker is referring to a specific chair that both people already know about, not just any chair in general.

You can tell from what it modifies.

In this sentence, hårt describes how you are screwing, not what kind of chair something is. So it modifies the verb skruvar, which means it functions adverbially.

Compare:

• en hård stol = a hard chair
  adjective describing a noun

• du skruvar hårt = you screw hard / tightly
  adverb describing a verb

In Swedish, many adjectives get a -t form when used adverbially:

• snabb → snabbt
• hård → hårt

So för hårt is the normal form here.

No, that would sound wrong in standard Swedish.

The reason is again the V2 rule. After the initial subordinate clause, the main clause must begin with the finite verb:

• Om du skruvar för hårt, går stolen sönder igen.

Not:

• Om du skruvar för hårt, stolen går sönder igen.

English allows If..., the chair breaks..., but Swedish requires the verb before the subject in this kind of sentence.

It can be understood mainly as a general warning or predictable result.

That is because of the present tense and the conditional structure:

• Om du skruvar för hårt, går stolen sönder igen.

This sounds like:

• If you tighten it too much, the chair will break again.

Swedish often uses the present tense where English might choose will in a warning like this.

So even though the verb forms are present tense, the meaning is often future-oriented or general:

• Do this, and this happens.

Yes, depending on context.

Skruva can mean:

• to screw
• to fasten with a screw
• to turn something by twisting
• to tighten something by turning

In this sentence, the exact English choice depends on what is being done to the chair. Possible natural translations include:

• If you screw too hard...
• If you tighten it too much...
• If you turn it too hard...

So a learner should not assume there is always only one perfect English equivalent. The Swedish verb is broader than a single fixed English translation.