Tycker du att den vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen?

Because this is a yes/no question.

In Swedish, yes/no questions usually put the finite verb first, followed by the subject:

• Du tycker ... = statement
• Tycker du ...? = question

So Tycker du att ...? is the normal word order for Do you think that ...?

English think can correspond to different Swedish verbs, and this is a very common source of confusion.

• tycka = to think / feel / have the opinion that
• tro = to think / believe / suppose

Here, the speaker is asking for an opinion about whether the clothes go well together, so tycka is the natural choice:

• Tycker du att ...? = Do you think / do you feel that ...?

If you used tror, it would sound more like a belief or guess, not a style opinion.

att means that and introduces a clause.

So:

• Tycker du att ...? = Do you think that ...?

In English, that is often optional. Swedish can also sometimes omit att in speech, especially after verbs like tycka, but keeping it is very normal and clear.

So both of these can occur:

• Tycker du att den vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen?
• Tycker du den vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen?

The version with att is especially good for learners because the structure is clearer.

Because after att, you are in a subordinate clause, and Swedish usually does not use the main-clause verb-second pattern there.

So:

• main clause question: Tycker du ...?
• subordinate clause: att den vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen

In the subordinate clause, the subject normally comes before the verb:

• den vita skjortan passar ...

That is the expected Swedish word order.

This is because Swedish uses double definiteness when a definite noun has an adjective before it.

Pattern:

• den/det/de
  • adjective + noun with definite ending

So:

• den vita skjortan = the white shirt
• den svarta kjolen = the black skirt

You need:

1. the definite article den
2. the adjective in its definite form: vita, svarta
3. the noun with the definite ending: skjortan, kjolen

This is one of the most important Swedish noun patterns to learn.

Because adjectives usually take the -a form when they are used before a definite noun.

Compare:

• en vit skjorta = a white shirt

• den vita skjortan = the white shirt

• en svart kjol = a black skirt
• den svarta kjolen = the black skirt

So in definite phrases, adjectives often change to -a form.

Those are the definite forms of the nouns.

Dictionary forms:

• skjorta = shirt
• kjol = skirt

Definite forms:

• skjortan = the shirt
• kjolen = the skirt

Swedish often puts definiteness as a suffix on the noun, unlike English, which uses a separate word the.

So:

• skjorta → skjortan
• kjol → kjolen

Because both skjorta and kjol are common gender nouns in Swedish.

Swedish has two grammatical genders for singular nouns:

• en words → use den in definite adjective phrases
• ett words → use det in definite adjective phrases

Since these are en words:

• en skjorta → den vita skjortan
• en kjol → den svarta kjolen

If the noun were an ett word, you would use det instead.

It means something like:

• goes well with
• matches
• fits together with

For clothes, it means the items look good together stylistically.

Breakdown:

• passar = suits / fits / goes well
• ihop = together
• med = with

So passar ihop med literally gives the sense of goes together with.

Yes, often you can, especially in everyday speech.

• Den vita skjortan passar med den svarta kjolen
• Den vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen

Both can work, but passar ihop med more clearly emphasizes that the two items match each other as a combination.

So:

• passar med = goes with
• passar ihop med = goes well together with / matches well with

Because the expression is passa ihop med or passa med when talking about one thing matching another.

So Swedish says that something matches with something:

• skjortan passar ihop med kjolen

This is just the normal preposition used in this expression.

These are tricky for English speakers because the spellings contain Swedish sounds that do not match English spelling habits.

A rough guide:

• skjortan begins with the Swedish sj-sound in skj
• kjolen begins with the Swedish kj-sound in kj

These two sounds are different, and both are difficult for learners.

Very roughly:

• skjortan sounds something like hwoor-tan or a deep sh sound at the start, depending on accent
• kjolen starts with a softer sound, somewhat like a very light hy or soft sh

Also:

• kjolen has stress on the first syllable: KJO-len
• skjortan has stress on the first syllable: SKJOR-tan

The exact pronunciation varies by dialect, so listening to native audio is especially helpful here.

Yes, often it can.

Swedish frequently allows att to be omitted after verbs like tycka, especially in speech:

• Tycker du att den vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen?
• Tycker du den vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen?

Both are understandable and natural. Including att is slightly more explicit and is often easier for learners to process.

It sounds natural and normal.

It is a completely ordinary way to ask someone for an opinion about whether two clothing items match. It is neither especially formal nor especially slangy.

A native speaker might also say shorter versions in conversation, such as:

• Tycker du den här vita skjortan passar ihop med den svarta kjolen?
• Passar den vita skjortan ihop med den svarta kjolen, tycker du?

But your sentence is perfectly natural Swedish.