Jag måste bädda sängen innan gästerna kommer.

Because måste is a modal verb, and after modal verbs in Swedish, the next verb stays in the infinitive without att.

So you say:

• Jag måste bädda sängen
• Jag kan komma
• Vi vill äta
• Hon ska resa

Not:

• Jag måste att bädda sängen

This is very similar to English must make rather than must to make.

Bädda means to make the bed or more literally to prepare a bed.

In this sentence, bädda sängen is the normal way to say make the bed.

Related forms:

• en bädd = a bed, bedding place, or flowerbed depending on context
• att bädda = to make/prepare a bed
• bädda ner någon = to tuck someone in

So Jag måste bädda sängen is the natural everyday Swedish expression for I have to make the bed.

Because sängen means the bed. Swedish usually uses the definite form when talking about a specific bed that both speaker and listener can identify.

• en säng = a bed
• sängen = the bed

Here, it is probably the speaker’s own bed or a particular bed in the house, so the bed is more natural.

Compare:

• Jag måste bädda sängen = I have to make the bed
• Jag måste bädda en säng = I have to make a bed

The second one sounds more like any bed, not a specific one.

In Swedish, the definite article is often added as an ending rather than written as a separate word.

So:

• en säng = a bed
• sängen = the bed

This is one of the big differences from English. Instead of putting the before the noun, Swedish often adds a suffix.

The same pattern appears in gästerna:

• gäster = guests
• gästerna = the guests

Gästerna means the guests.

Here is the breakdown:

• gäst = guest
• gäster = guests
• gästerna = the guests

So the ending -na here marks the definite plural.

This tells you that the speaker means specific guests, not just guests in general.

Swedish often uses the present tense to talk about the future when the context already makes the future meaning clear.

So:

• gästerna kommer literally = the guests come
• but in natural English it means = the guests are coming or the guests arrive

Because innan and the situation clearly refer to a future event, Swedish does not need a special future form here.

This is very common:

• Vi ses imorgon = We’ll see each other tomorrow
• Jag ringer senare = I’ll call later
• De kommer klockan sju = They’re coming at seven

Because innan introduces a subordinate clause, and in Swedish subordinate clauses, the subject usually comes before the finite verb.

So:

• innan gästerna kommer = before the guests come

This is the normal order.

A useful comparison:

• Main clause: Gästerna kommer snart = The guests are coming soon
• Question/main-clause inversion: Kommer gästerna snart? = Are the guests coming soon?
• Subordinate clause: innan gästerna kommer = before the guests come

So after innan, you do not use question-style inversion.

Usually, innan is the natural choice before a clause, while före is more often used before a noun phrase or time expression.

So:

• innan gästerna kommer = before the guests come
• före middagen = before dinner
• före klockan åtta = before eight o’clock

That is why innan fits this sentence best: it is followed by the clause gästerna kommer.

It can mean either, depending on context.

• Jag måste bädda sängen can be translated as I must make the bed
• or I have to make the bed

In everyday Swedish, måste is the normal word for necessity, and it often covers both meanings that English separates into must and have to.

So the exact English translation depends on tone and context, not on a different Swedish word.

Yes, it sounds completely natural.

It is a normal Swedish sentence with:

• Jag = I
• måste = have to / must
• bädda sängen = make the bed
• innan gästerna kommer = before the guests come / arrive

It sounds like something someone might say when preparing the house before visitors arrive.