Jag sitter i köket och lyssnar på musik.

Jag is the subject form of I. It is used because the speaker is doing the actions: sitter and lyssnar.

• jag = I
• mig = me

So Swedish works like English here:

• Jag sitter... = I am sitting...
• not Mig sitter...

Yes, sitter literally means sit / am sitting. In this sentence, it tells you the person is physically in a seated position.

Swedish often uses posture verbs like these in a natural way:

• sitta = sit
• stå = stand
• ligga = lie

So Jag sitter i köket och lyssnar på musik means the speaker is sitting in the kitchen while listening to music.

In some cases, Swedish uses these posture verbs more often than English would. English might just say I’m in the kitchen listening to music, but Swedish often likes to specify sitter if that is the actual position.

Because Swedish does not build the present tense the same way English does.

In English, you often say:

• I am listening

In Swedish, you usually just use the present tense verb:

• jag lyssnar = I listen / I am listening

So:

• sitter already means sit / am sitting
• lyssnar already means listen / am listening

Swedish does have är = am/is/are, but it is not used here because the sentence uses action verbs, not to be.

Because the Swedish verb lyssna normally takes the preposition på.

So you say:

• lyssna på musik
• lyssna på radio
• lyssna på någon = listen to someone

This is something you usually just have to learn as part of the verb:

• lyssna på = listen to

Even though English uses to and Swedish uses på, you should think of lyssna på as a fixed combination.

Because i usually means in when something is inside an enclosed space, such as a room.

So:

• i köket = in the kitchen
• i huset = in the house
• i bilen = in the car

Using på here would usually sound wrong, because a kitchen is a room you are inside, not a surface or area you are on.

Because köket is the definite form: the kitchen.

• ett kök = a kitchen
• köket = the kitchen

Swedish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word in front like English the.

So:

• i köket = in the kitchen

Because Swedish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

Compare:

• English: the kitchen
• Swedish: kök-et

That -et is the the part.

This is very common in Swedish:

• boken = the book
• huset = the house
• köket = the kitchen

Because musik is being used in a general, uncountable sense, like music in English.

So Swedish says:

• lyssnar på musik = listening to music

Not:

• lyssnar på en musik ✗

You would only use an article if you were talking about some specific kind of music in a special structure, but in a normal sentence like this, no article is needed.

This is standard Swedish main-clause word order:

1. Jag = subject
2. sitter = verb
3. the rest of the sentence

Then och joins the second verb phrase:

• Jag sitter i köket
• och lyssnar på musik

So the subject jag only appears once, and both verbs belong to the same subject.

This is very natural in both Swedish and English:

• I sit in the kitchen and listen to music

Because the subject is the same for both verbs, and after och it is usually unnecessary to repeat it.

So:

• Jag sitter i köket och lyssnar på musik = natural
• Jag sitter i köket och jag lyssnar på musik = grammatical, but usually more repetitive than needed

Swedish often leaves out the repeated subject in this kind of coordinated sentence, just like English often does.

Not in the same way. Swedish usually uses the simple present tense for both:

• I listen
• I am listening

So:

• Jag lyssnar can mean both I listen and I am listening, depending on context.

Sometimes Swedish adds extra words to emphasize an ongoing action, and one common pattern is:

• sitter och lyssnar = is sitting and listening

That gives a strong sense of something happening right now.

Their infinitive forms are:

• sitta → sitter
• lyssna → lyssnar

So:

• att sitta = to sit
• att lyssna = to listen

In the present tense, Swedish verbs do not change by person:

• jag lyssnar
• du lyssnar
• han/hon lyssnar
• vi lyssnar

That is simpler than English, because Swedish does not have forms like I listen vs she listens.

Yes. That is a completely natural sentence.

• Jag sitter och lyssnar på musik = I’m sitting and listening to music

Adding i köket just gives extra information about location:

• Jag sitter i köket och lyssnar på musik

So the sentence is built from:

• the main activity: sitter och lyssnar på musik
• plus the place: i köket

Yes, it is a very common and useful pattern.

Swedish often uses:

• sitter och ...
• står och ...
• ligger och ...

These mean that someone is doing something while sitting, standing, or lying down.

Examples:

• Jag sitter och läser. = I’m sitting and reading.
• Hon står och väntar. = She is standing and waiting.
• Barnet ligger och sover. = The child is lying down sleeping.

So in your sentence, sitter ... och lyssnar is a very natural Swedish way to describe an ongoing action.