Jag tvättar händerna med tvål vid handfatet varje morgon.

In Swedish, body parts are often expressed with the definite form instead of a possessive word like my.

So Swedish commonly says:

• Jag tvättar händerna = literally I wash the hands
• but the meaning is I wash my hands

This is very natural in Swedish when it is already obvious whose body part it is.

You can say mina händer, but it sounds more emphatic or contrastive, for example if you want to stress that they are my hands and not someone else’s.

For the same reason: Swedish often leaves out the possessive with body parts when the owner is clear from the context.

Compare:

• Jag borstar tänderna = I brush my teeth
• Jag tvättar händerna = I wash my hands

English usually requires my, but Swedish often does not.

Tvättar is the present tense of tvätta (to wash).

In this sentence, the present tense is used for a habitual action, something that happens regularly:

• Jag tvättar händerna varje morgon = I wash my hands every morning

This works much like English simple present in habitual statements.

Swedish usually uses the simple present form, tvättar, both for:

• general/habitual actions
• actions happening now, when the context makes that clear

So Jag tvättar händerna can mean:

• I wash my hands
  or
• I am washing my hands

If you add varje morgon, it clearly becomes a habitual action.

Med tvål means with soap in a general sense, meaning soap as a substance.

Swedish often uses the indefinite form for materials or substances when speaking generally:

• med tvål = with soap
• med vatten = with water

If you say med tvålen, it would mean with the soap, referring to a specific soap that has already been identified.

Vid often means by, at, or next to.

So:

• vid handfatet = at the sink / by the sink

It describes location near the sink, which is the natural way to express this idea here.

Handfatet is the definite form: the sink.

In Swedish, it is common to use the definite form for a familiar or specific object in the situation. If you are washing your hands, the sink is understood as a specific one in that context.

• handfat = a sink
• handfatet = the sink

So vid handfatet is like saying at the sink.

Usually, vid handfatet is the best choice here.

• vid handfatet = at/by the sink
• i handfatet = in the sink

If you say i handfatet, it sounds more like something is physically inside the sink basin. For washing your hands, Swedish normally uses vid handfatet.

That is a very natural placement for a time expression in Swedish.

The sentence structure here is:

• Jag = subject
• tvättar = verb
• händerna = object
• med tvål = manner/instrument
• vid handfatet = place
• varje morgon = time

Swedish often puts time expressions toward the end, especially in straightforward sentences.

But other placements are also possible, for example:

• Varje morgon tvättar jag händerna med tvål vid handfatet.

That is also correct. When the sentence starts with Varje morgon, the verb still must come second: tvättar before jag.

Swedish main clauses normally follow subject + verb order when nothing else comes first.

So:

• Jag tvättar händerna...

is the normal pattern.

A very important Swedish rule is that the finite verb comes in second position in main clauses. That means:

• Jag tvättar händerna varje morgon.
• Varje morgon tvättar jag händerna.

In both cases, the verb tvättar is in the second position.

Yes. Swedish very often forms compound nouns as one word.

• hand = hand
• fat = basin/dish

Together:

• handfat = sink / washbasin

This is very common in Swedish. English often uses two words where Swedish uses one compound word.

The base form is:

• en hand = a hand

Plural:

• händer = hands

Definite plural:

• händerna = the hands

So -na here is part of the definite plural ending.

The full pattern is:

• en hand = a hand
• handen = the hand
• händer = hands
• händerna = the hands

Yes. Both are optional details.

You can say:

• Jag tvättar händerna varje morgon. = I wash my hands every morning.

Adding med tvål tells how you wash them.
Adding vid handfatet tells where.

So the full sentence gives more detail, but the shorter version is still completely natural.

It is perfectly normal, neutral Swedish. It sounds like standard everyday language.

Nothing in it is especially formal, literary, or slangy. A native speaker would understand it immediately, and it works well as a clear textbook example of ordinary Swedish grammar.