Hon tar gärna den genvägen när hon cyklar på cykelbanan.

Gärna is a very common Swedish adverb. Here it means something like gladly, willingly, or often more naturally in English, likes to.

So Hon tar gärna den genvägen suggests that she likes taking that shortcut or often gladly takes that shortcut.

A useful thing to remember is that Swedish often uses gärna where English might use like to:

• Jag dricker gärna kaffe. = I like to drink coffee.
• Hon kommer gärna hit. = She likes coming here / She’s happy to come here.

It does not always need to be translated literally as gladly.

Yes. Swedish uses ta in much the same way English uses take in expressions about routes, paths, and shortcuts.

• ta en genväg = take a shortcut
• ta den vägen = take that way/road
• ta bussen = take the bus

So Hon tar gärna den genvägen is completely natural Swedish.

In Swedish main clauses, the finite verb usually comes in second position. After that, short adverbs like gärna often come before the object.

So:

• Hon = subject
• tar = finite verb
• gärna = adverb
• den genvägen = object

This gives:

• Hon tar gärna den genvägen.

That word order is very normal.

Compare:

• Jag läser gärna böcker.
• Vi åker gärna dit.

This is a very natural question, because Swedish learners often expect just the suffixed definite form.

• genväg = a shortcut
• genvägen = the shortcut
• den genvägen = usually that shortcut or that particular shortcut

So den here is not just the ordinary the. It usually adds a sense of pointing something out: that shortcut.

In many contexts, if you only mean the shortcut, you might simply say:

• Hon tar gärna genvägen ...

With den genvägen, it sounds more like a specific, identifiable shortcut already known in the situation.

Swedish usually makes nouns definite by adding the definite article as a suffix.

Here are the forms:

• en genväg = a shortcut

• genvägen = the shortcut

• en cykelbana = a bike lane / cycle path
• cykelbanan = the bike lane / the cycle path

So unlike English, Swedish often puts the at the end of the noun.

Because Swedish, like English, normally needs a subject in each clause.

The sentence has two clauses:

1. Hon tar gärna den genvägen
2. när hon cyklar på cykelbanan

The second clause still needs its own subject, so Swedish says hon again:

• när hon cyklar

You cannot normally leave it out.

När usually means when.

In this sentence it introduces a time clause:

• när hon cyklar på cykelbanan = when she cycles on the bike lane

It tells us under what circumstances she takes that shortcut.

A useful comparison:

• när = when
• om = if / whether

So here när is the natural choice because the sentence is about a repeated or regular situation, not a condition.

Swedish present tense is often used for habitual actions or general situations, just like English present tense.

So:

• när hon cyklar på cykelbanan means when she cycles / when she is cycling on the bike lane, depending on context.

It does not have to mean she is cycling right now. It can describe what usually happens.

This is very common in Swedish:

• När jag jobbar hemma, dricker jag mycket kaffe.
• När han springer, lyssnar han på musik.

Yes. Cykla means to cycle / to ride a bike.

So:

• hon cyklar = she cycles / she is riding a bike

Swedish normally uses cykla rather than something like ride a bicycle.

For example:

• Jag cyklar till jobbet. = I bike to work / I cycle to work.

Because Swedish often uses på for movement or position on a surface, path, road, lane, or track.

So:

• på cykelbanan = on the bike lane
• på vägen = on the road
• på gatan = on the street

Using i would usually sound wrong here, because a bike lane is thought of as a surface/path, not an enclosed space.

Yes, sometimes, but cyklar is simpler and more direct here.

• hon cyklar = she cycles / she rides a bike
• hon åker cykel can also be understood, but it is less idiomatic in many contexts than just cyklar

For a learner, cykla is the best verb to use.

Yes: the sentence shows a very standard Swedish pattern.

Main clause:

• Hon tar gärna den genvägen

Subordinate clause:

• när hon cyklar på cykelbanan

In the main clause, the finite verb tar comes early, in the usual Swedish verb-second pattern.

In the subordinate clause after när, the order is more like English:

• när + subject + verb
• när hon cyklar

So this sentence is a good example of normal Swedish clause structure.