Kan du ge mig ett papper och en penna innan mötet börjar?

In Swedish, Kan du ...? often works just like English Can you ...? It can literally ask about ability, but in everyday speech it is also a very common way to make a polite request.

So Kan du ge mig ...? means something like Can you give me ...? / Could you give me ...?

If you want to sound even softer or more formal, Swedish also uses:

• Skulle du kunna ge mig ...? = Could you give me ...?
• Kan jag få ...? = Can I have ...?

Because ge is the infinitive form, and it comes after the modal verb kan.

In Swedish, modal verbs like kan, vill, ska, måste are followed by the infinitive without att.

Examples:

• Jag kan simma. = I can swim.
• Du vill gå. = You want to go.
• Kan du ge mig ...? = Can you give me ...?

If ge were the main finite verb by itself, then you would use a different form:

• Du ger mig en penna. = You give me a pen.

Because mig is the object form of jag.

Compare:

• jag = I
• mig = me

In this sentence, the speaker is receiving the action, so Swedish uses the object pronoun:

• Kan du ge mig ...? = Can you give me ...?

Just like in English, you would not say Can you give I ...?

Swedish nouns have grammatical gender, and most common nouns take either:

• en
• ett

So:

• ett papper because papper is an ett-word
• en penna because penna is an en-word

This is something learners usually have to memorize with each noun.

A useful way to learn Swedish nouns is to always learn them with the article:

• ett papper
• en penna
• ett möte

Here, ett papper most naturally means a piece of paper or a sheet of paper, not necessarily a newspaper or an academic article.

That is a very normal use of papper in Swedish.

So in a context like this:

• Kan du ge mig ett papper och en penna ...?

the listener will usually understand:

• Can you give me a sheet of paper and a pen ...?

Mötet is the definite form, meaning the meeting.

Swedish often adds the definite article as an ending:

• ett möte = a meeting
• mötet = the meeting

So:

• innan mötet börjar = before the meeting starts

This suggests that both speaker and listener know which meeting is being talked about.

Because börjar is the finite present-tense verb for the subject mötet.

In the clause innan mötet börjar:

• mötet = the subject
• börjar = starts

So it works like:

• Mötet börjar snart. = The meeting starts soon.

You would use börja as the infinitive:

• Jag vill börja nu. = I want to start now.

Because innan introduces a subordinate clause, and in Swedish subordinate clauses the word order is normally subject + verb.

So:

• innan mötet börjar = before the meeting starts

This is different from main clause word order, where Swedish often has verb-second order:

• Mötet börjar snart.

But after a subordinator like innan, att, om, eftersom, när, Swedish does not invert the subject and verb in this way.

Yes, och is the normal way to connect the two things:

• ett papper och en penna = a paper and a pen

Leaving it out would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Swedish.

Sometimes in casual speech people may shorten things in different ways, but in normal correct Swedish you should keep och here.

Yes, it is polite and completely natural in everyday Swedish.

Kan du ge mig ett papper och en penna innan mötet börjar? sounds like a normal, reasonable request.

If you want to sound a little softer, you could add:

• snälla = please
• tack = thanks

For example:

• Kan du ge mig ett papper och en penna innan mötet börjar, tack?
• Kan du snälla ge mig ett papper och en penna innan mötet börjar?

A slightly more formal or extra-polite version would be:

• Skulle du kunna ge mig ett papper och en penna innan mötet börjar?

Yes, absolutely. That is also very common.

Compare:

• Kan du ge mig ett papper och en penna ...? = Can you give me a paper and a pen ...?
• Kan jag få ett papper och en penna ...? = Can I have a paper and a pen ...?

Both are natural. The second one focuses more on what the speaker wants to receive, while the first one focuses more on what the other person can do.

That part is:

• innan = before
• mötet = the meeting
• börjar = starts

Together:

• innan mötet börjar = before the meeting starts

This whole section is a time clause telling us when the speaker wants the paper and pen.

Yes, if you mean a paper and a pen, then the indefinite articles are normally used:

• ett papper
• en penna

Without the articles, the sentence would usually sound unnatural in this context.

Swedish, like English, normally uses an article with a singular countable noun:

• a pen → en penna
• a meeting → ett möte

So the articles here are the expected choice.