Kan ni meddela kunden att vi måste boka om intervjun?

Kan ni literally means Can you.

In Swedish, kan is the present tense of kunna (can / to be able to), and ni means you.

Here it is being used as a polite request, just like English Can you ...?

A few useful points:

• du = you (one person, informal)
• ni = you (more than one person), and sometimes also you in a more formal or polite singular sense

So Kan ni meddela kunden ...? can mean either:

• Can you all inform the customer ...?
• or a polite Can you inform the customer ...?

Swedish distinguishes between:

• du = singular you
• ni = plural you

Unlike modern English, Swedish still has a separate plural form.

However, ni can also be used politely in some situations when speaking to one person, especially in service contexts. So without context, ni could refer to:

• several people
• one person addressed politely

A learner should mainly remember:

• use du for one person in normal everyday speech
• use ni for more than one person
• be aware that ni can sometimes sound formal or service-oriented

Meddela means to inform, to notify, or to let someone know.

It is a bit more formal than everyday verbs like:

• säga = say / tell
• berätta = tell / relate
• informera = inform

In this sentence, meddela kunden means inform the customer or let the customer know.

So the tone is fairly neutral to professional.

Kunden is the definite form, meaning the customer.

Swedish often puts definiteness at the end of the noun:

• en kund = a customer
• kunden = the customer

So:

• meddela kund would be incorrect here
• meddela kunden = inform the customer

This is one of the most important patterns in Swedish noun grammar.

For the same reason as kunden: intervjun is the definite form.

• en intervju = an interview
• intervjun = the interview

So boka om intervjun means reschedule the interview.

Swedish usually adds the definite ending directly to the noun:

• -n or -en for many en-words
• other patterns exist for other noun types

Here:

• intervju → intervjun

Att here means that.

It introduces the clause:

• att vi måste boka om intervjun
• that we must reschedule the interview

So the structure is:

• Kan ni meddela kunden = Can you inform the customer
• att vi måste boka om intervjun = that we have to reschedule the interview

In everyday English, that is often omitted, but in Swedish att is very commonly used in sentences like this.

Måste means must or have to.

It is a modal verb, and modal verbs in Swedish are followed directly by the infinitive, without att.

So:

• vi måste boka om intervjun
• we must reschedule the interview

Not:

• vi måste att boka om intervjun ❌

This is similar to English:

• we must reschedule
• not we must to reschedule

Common Swedish modal verbs include:

• kan = can
• vill = want
• ska = will / shall / am going to
• måste = must / have to

Boka om means reschedule, rebook, or change the booking/time.

The base verb is:

• boka = book

Adding om changes the meaning to doing the booking again or changing it:

• boka = book
• boka om = rebook / reschedule

In this sentence, boka om intervjun means reschedule the interview.

This is very common in Swedish with particle verbs.

They are very close, and in many contexts they mean basically the same thing.

• boka om = reschedule / rebook
• omboka = reschedule / rebook

In everyday usage, both occur. Boka om is very common in speech.

A useful thing for learners is that Swedish often has both:

• a particle verb: boka om
• a prefixed verb: omboka

But you should learn the exact form you see in real sentences, because word order behaves differently with particle verbs.

This is normal Swedish clause order.

The clause after att begins with the subject:

• vi = we

Then comes the verb:

• måste = must

Then the infinitive verb phrase:

• boka om intervjun = reschedule the interview

So the order is:

• att + subject + verb + rest
• att vi måste boka om intervjun

This is a subordinate clause introduced by att, but the order here still looks quite familiar to an English speaker.

It sounds neutral to professional.

Why?

• meddela is a somewhat formal/professional verb
• kunden suggests a business or service context
• Kan ni ...? is a polite request

So this would sound natural in a workplace, customer service setting, or internal office communication.

A more casual version might use:

• Kan ni säga till kunden att ...
• Can you tell the customer that ...

That sounds a bit less formal than meddela.

Yes, often you can.

Depending on context, meddela kunden could be translated as:

• inform the customer
• notify the customer
• let the customer know
• tell the customer

The exact English choice depends on tone.

• inform / notify = more formal
• tell / let know = more natural in everyday English

So in this sentence, all of these could work, but inform the customer matches the Swedish wording especially well.

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• in-ter-vyoon

A few pronunciation notes:

• j in Swedish often sounds like English y
• so intervju sounds roughly like inter-vyu
• intervjun adds the definite ending -n

So:

• intervju ≈ inter-vyoo
• intervjun ≈ inter-vyoon

This is only an approximation, but it helps get you close.

Yes, pretty closely:

• Kan = can
• ni = you
• meddela = inform / notify
• kunden = the customer
• att = that
• vi = we
• måste = must / have to
• boka om = reschedule / rebook
• intervjun = the interview

So a very literal translation would be:

Can you inform the customer that we must reschedule the interview?

That means the Swedish sentence maps very neatly onto English, which makes it a useful sentence for learners.