Jag hittar inget verktyg som passar den lilla skruven.

Because verktyg is an ett-word in Swedish: ett verktyg.

The negative forms agree with the noun’s gender and number:

• ingen
  • en-word
• inget
  • ett-word
• inga
  • plural

So:

• ingen skruv = no screw
• inget verktyg = no tool
• inga verktyg = no tools

Because inget goes directly with the noun verktyg and means no or not any.

So Jag hittar inget verktyg ... means I can’t find any tool / I find no tool ...

If you said Jag hittar inte ett verktyg ..., it would sound unusual in most contexts. It can suggest something more specific, like I’m not finding one particular tool, or it may sound like a contrastive structure.

With nouns, Swedish often prefers:

• Jag har ingen bil = I have no car / I don’t have a car
• Jag ser inget problem = I see no problem / I don’t see any problem

Hittar is the present tense of hitta.

• att hitta = to find
• jag hittar = I find / I am finding

In Swedish, the present tense often covers both English simple present and present progressive:

• Jag hittar inget verktyg = I find no tool / I’m not finding any tool

The exact English translation depends on context.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Swedish does not usually make the same distinction English does between:

• I find
• I am finding

So Jag hittar inget verktyg could be understood as:

• I can’t find any tool
• I’m not finding any tool
• I don’t find any tool

In natural English, I can’t find any tool... is often the best translation.

Som introduces a relative clause. It connects verktyg with the extra information passar den lilla skruven.

So:

• ett verktyg = a tool
• ett verktyg som passar den lilla skruven = a tool that fits the small screw

In English, that can sometimes be omitted:

• the tool that fits
• the tool fits would not work here, but English may omit that in some other sentences

In Swedish, som is normally kept in this kind of sentence.

The subject is som, which refers back to verktyg.

So the structure is basically:

• verktyg = tool
• som = that/which
• som passar den lilla skruven = that fits the small screw

In other words, the tool is the thing doing the fitting.

A very literal breakdown is:

• Jag hittar inget verktyg = I find no tool
• som passar den lilla skruven = that fits the small screw

Here passar means fits or is suitable for.

The verb passa has several meanings in Swedish depending on context, for example:

• Den passar bra. = It fits well / It suits well.
• Tiden passar mig inte. = The time doesn’t suit me.
• Nyckeln passar låset. = The key fits the lock.

In this sentence, the mechanical meaning is intended: the tool is the right one for the screw.

Because the noun is definite and it has an adjective in front of it.

When Swedish uses a definite noun with an adjective, it usually uses double definiteness:

• a separate definite word before the adjective: den
• a definite ending on the noun: -en

So:

• skruven = the screw
• den lilla skruven = the small screw

You normally need both parts when there is an adjective.

This is a standard Swedish pattern called double definiteness.

Compare:

• skruven = the screw
• den lilla skruven = the small screw

Without an adjective, Swedish usually just uses the noun with the definite ending:

• boken = the book

With an adjective, Swedish usually adds a definite article before the adjective as well:

• den röda boken = the red book

So den lilla skruven is exactly what you expect in standard Swedish.

Because adjectives change form depending on grammar.

The adjective liten is irregular:

• en liten skruv = a small screw
• ett litet verktyg = a small tool
• små skruvar = small screws
• den lilla skruven = the small screw

In definite form, Swedish uses lilla here, not liten.

So:

• en liten skruv = an indefinite small screw
• den lilla skruven = the definite small screw

That is why den liten skruven is incorrect.

Because the sentence refers to a specific screw: the small screw, not just a small screw.

So the noun must be definite:

• en liten skruv = a small screw
• den lilla skruven = the small screw

Also, after den lilla, the noun must take its definite ending in standard Swedish, so den lilla skruv is not correct.

Yes. It is normal.

Inside that relative clause, the order is:

• som = subject
• passar = verb
• den lilla skruven = object

So it follows a normal subject–verb–object pattern.

A learner may wonder whether Swedish should invert the verb, but not here. The clause is just:

• that fits the small screw

Very literally:

• som = that
• passar = fits
• den lilla skruven = the small screw

Usually no, not in this sentence.

English can sometimes omit that in relative clauses, especially when that is the object:

• the book (that) I bought

But in Swedish, som is usually expressed. In your sentence it is especially natural and expected:

• ett verktyg som passar den lilla skruven

Leaving it out would sound wrong here.

Sometimes yes, but hittar is more natural in everyday speech.

• hitta = the normal everyday verb for find
• finna = more formal, literary, or sometimes fixed in certain expressions

So:

• Jag hittar inget verktyg ... sounds natural and everyday.
• Jag finner inget verktyg ... is understandable, but more formal or bookish.

For most learners, hitta is the safer everyday choice.