När jag handlar sent på kvällen är matbutiken nästan tom, och då går allt snabbare vid kassan.

Here handlar is the present tense of handla, and it means shop, buy things, or do the shopping.

So jag handlar means I shop or I’m shopping.

It is not the same as English handle. Also, be aware that handla om is a different expression meaning be about, but that is not what is happening in this sentence.

Swedish often uses the present tense for habitual actions, just like English does.

So När jag handlar sent på kvällen means When I shop late in the evening or Whenever I shop late in the evening.

It describes a regular pattern, not just one specific shopping trip.

När means when here. It introduces a subordinate clause.

In Swedish subordinate clauses, the subject usually comes before the verb in normal order, so:

• När jag handlar...
• when I shop...

That is why you get jag handlar, not handlar jag.

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

The sentence starts with the subordinate clause:

• När jag handlar sent på kvällen

After that, the main clause begins. Since the first position is already taken by the whole När... clause, the verb comes next:

• är matbutiken nästan tom

So the structure is:

• När jag handlar sent på kvällen, är matbutiken nästan tom.

If you started directly with the main clause, you would say:

• Matbutiken är nästan tom.

Sent means late here. It is the adverb form used with the action:

• handlar sent = shop late

Swedish often uses på with parts of the day:

• på morgonen = in the morning
• på eftermiddagen = in the afternoon
• på kvällen = in the evening

So sent på kvällen is a very natural way to say late in the evening.

Matbutiken is a compound noun:

• mat = food
• butik = shop/store
• matbutik = grocery store / food shop

Then -en is added to make it definite:

• matbutiken = the grocery store

Swedish forms compound nouns very freely, and they are usually written as one word.

Matbutiken means the grocery store, and Swedish often uses the definite form when the thing is understood from the situation.

Here, the speaker means the store they are shopping in, so it is a specific, understood store. That makes the definite form natural.

Using en matbutik would sound more like a grocery store in general, not the one involved in the situation.

Literally, nästan tom means almost empty.

When used about a store, it usually means there are very few people there, not that the shelves are empty. So it describes how uncrowded the store is.

Here då means something like then, at that time, or in that situation.

It points back to the time/situation introduced earlier:

• När jag handlar sent på kvällen...
• ...och då går allt snabbare...

So:

• när = when and introduces the time clause
• då = then / at that time and refers back to it

They are related, but they do different jobs in the sentence.

A very natural way to understand it is:

• then everything goes faster
• or more naturally in English, then everything is faster

The word order looks unusual because of Swedish V2 word order again. Since då comes first, the verb must come second:

• Då går allt snabbare

If you used more basic word order, it would be:

• Allt går snabbare

Also, går snabbare is a normal Swedish way to say that something goes faster, moves faster, or proceeds more quickly.

Vid means at, by, or near.

Kassan means the checkout, the cashier area, or literally the cash register/till, depending on context.

So vid kassan means at the checkout.

This is the natural expression when talking about the place where you line up and pay in a store.

Also, kassan is definite because it refers to the checkout in that store, which is understood from the situation.