Kan du skicka länken till filen?

Because this is a yes/no question in Swedish.

In a normal statement, Swedish usually has:

• Du kan skicka länken till filen. = You can send the link to the file.

In a yes/no question, the verb comes before the subject:

• Kan du skicka länken till filen? = Can you send the link to the file?

So the word order change is the main thing that marks it as a question.

Kan is the present tense of kunna, which means can / to be able to.

Examples:

• Jag kan = I can
• Du kan = you can
• Han kan = he can

Unlike English, Swedish does not change the form for different persons in the present tense. So kan stays the same with jag, du, han, vi, and so on.

Because after a modal verb like kan, Swedish normally uses the infinitive of the main verb.

So:

• kan skicka = can send

Compare:

• Du skickar länken. = You send / are sending the link.
• Du kan skicka länken. = You can send the link.

This is similar to English:

• can send not
• can sends

Also, Swedish does not use att after modal verbs here, so you say:

• kan skicka not
• kan att skicka

Because länken is the definite form of länk.

• en länk = a link
• länken = the link

Swedish often puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

Since länk is an en-word, its definite singular form is made with -en:

• en länk
• länken

For the same reason as länken: it is the definite singular form.

• en fil = a file
• filen = the file

So:

• länken till filen = the link to the file

Again, fil is an en-word, so the definite form ends in -en.

Here till means to in the sense of connected with / leading to.

So:

• länken till filen = the link to the file

This is important because till filen belongs with länken, not with skicka.

In other words, the structure is:

• skicka [länken till filen]

So you are sending the link, and that link is to the file.

It means send the link that goes to the file.

The phrase till filen describes which link:

• länken till filen = the link to the file

It does not mean that the link is being sent to the file as a destination.

A native English speaker may briefly misread it that way, but in Swedish this structure is very natural.

Good question. In Swedish, this sentence does not explicitly say me.

• Kan du skicka länken till filen? = Can you send the link to the file?

In real context, the receiver may be understood already. But if you want to say to me, Swedish would usually say:

• Kan du skicka mig länken till filen? or
• Kan du skicka länken till mig?

Both are possible:

• skicka mig länken = send me the link
• skicka länken till mig = send the link to me

In modern Swedish, du is used in most situations, even many fairly formal ones. Swedish does not use formal you in the same way that some other European languages do.

So:

• Kan du skicka länken till filen? is normal and polite in many situations.

If you want to sound more polite, Swedish usually adds polite wording rather than changing you:

• Kan du skicka länken till filen, tack?
• Skulle du kunna skicka länken till filen?

That second version is a bit softer and more polite:

• Skulle du kunna ... ? = Could you ... ?

It can be both, just like English Can you ... ?

Literally, it asks about ability:

• Can you send... ?

But in everyday use, it often functions as a request:

• Can you send the link to the file?

If you want to sound softer or more polite, Swedish often uses:

• Skulle du kunna skicka länken till filen? = Could you send the link to the file?

A careful approximate pronunciation is:

Kan du skicka länken till filen?
kahn du SHICK-ah LEN-ken till FEE-len?

A few notes:

• sk before i in skicka sounds like sh
• ä in länken is somewhat like the vowel in British bed, though not exactly the same
• i in filen is a long ee sound
• In natural speech, du may sound lighter, almost like do or dü

Pronunciation varies by region, but this approximation is good for learners.

Normally, no. In this context, till is the natural choice.

• länken till filen = the link to the file

Using för would usually sound wrong here, because för often means for, not to in the sense of a link leading somewhere.

So for links, pages, documents, and destinations, till is often the right preposition.

The structure is:

• Kan = modal verb
• du = subject
• skicka = main verb in infinitive
• länken = direct object
• till filen = phrase describing länken

So:

Kan | du | skicka | länken | till filen?

This is a very common Swedish pattern:

• Kan du hjälpa mig?
• Kan du öppna dörren?
• Kan du skicka länken till filen?

Once you learn this pattern, you can make many useful questions very easily.