Enligt läkaren borde du vila hemma.

Enligt means according to.

So Enligt läkaren = According to the doctor.

It is used to show the source of a statement, opinion, or piece of information. In this sentence, it tells us that the advice comes from the doctor.

A few similar examples:

• Enligt väderleksrapporten blir det regn. = According to the weather report, it will rain.
• Enligt henne är det sant. = According to her, it is true.

Läkaren is the definite form and means the doctor.

In Swedish, definiteness is often shown by adding an ending to the noun:

• en läkare = a doctor
• läkaren = the doctor

Here, läkaren suggests a specific doctor, probably one already known from the situation.

This is because Swedish usually follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb must come in the second position.

In this sentence:

• Position 1: Enligt läkaren
• Position 2: borde
• Then: du vila hemma

So even though du is the subject, it comes after the finite verb because another element has been placed first.

Compare:

• Du borde vila hemma. = You should rest at home.
• Enligt läkaren borde du vila hemma. = According to the doctor, you should rest at home.

This kind of word order is very common in Swedish.

Borde means should or ought to.

It is the form of bör/borde used for advice, recommendation, or what would be a good idea.

So:

• Du borde vila hemma. = You should rest at home.

Even though borde historically comes from a past form, in modern Swedish it is very often used for present-time advice, just like English should.

It sounds less forceful than something like:

• Du måste vila hemma. = You must rest at home.

So borde fits well when giving medical advice.

Because borde is a modal verb, and modal verbs in Swedish are followed by the bare infinitive.

So you say:

• du borde vila
• du kan vila
• du måste vila
• du vill vila

Not:

• du borde att vila ✗

This is similar to English:

• You should rest
• not You should to rest

Here, vila is the infinitive form of the verb and means to rest.

After a modal verb like borde, Swedish uses the infinitive without att:

• borde vila = should rest

So in this sentence, vila is not a noun; it is the verb.

Hemma means at home and refers to location.

So:

• vila hemma = rest at home

Swedish often distinguishes between:

• hemma = at home, in the home location
• hem = home, often with movement toward home

Compare:

• Jag är hemma. = I am at home.
• Jag går hem. = I am going home.

In your sentence, the meaning is location, not movement, so hemma is correct.

Yes, that is possible, but it sounds a bit different in focus.

• Enligt läkaren borde du vila hemma. puts according to the doctor first, so the source is emphasized right away.
• Du borde vila hemma enligt läkaren. starts with the advice itself and adds the source later.

Both are grammatical. The first version is a very natural way to present the doctor as the authority behind the recommendation.

It is natural and correct Swedish, but enligt läkaren can sound slightly more neutral or written than some everyday spoken alternatives.

In speech, people might also say:

• Läkaren säger att du borde vila hemma. = The doctor says that you should rest at home.
• Du borde vila hemma, enligt läkaren. = You should rest at home, according to the doctor.

So the original sentence is perfectly normal, but it has a slightly tidy, informative style.

You would usually put inte after the subject when a modal verb is present:

• Enligt läkaren borde du inte vila hemma.

That means According to the doctor, you should not rest at home.

The order is:

• borde = finite verb
• du = subject
• inte = negation
• vila = infinitive

This placement of inte is very typical in Swedish main clauses with modal verbs.