Kan du ta bort tallriken från bordet?

Kan du literally means can you. In Swedish, this is a very common way to make a polite request, just like English Can you ...?

So Kan du ta bort tallriken från bordet? is both:

• a literal question about ability: Can you remove the plate from the table?
• and, more naturally in context, a request: Could you remove the plate from the table?

Swedish often uses kan du where English might use can you or could you.

Yes. Kan du ...? is normally polite enough in everyday Swedish.

Swedish uses snälla or vänligen for please, but they are not required in many ordinary requests. Tone of voice matters a lot.

For example:

• Kan du ta bort tallriken från bordet? = polite everyday request
• Kan du snälla ta bort tallriken från bordet? = Can you please remove the plate from the table?

So the sentence sounds natural and polite even without an extra please word.

Ta bort is a very common Swedish verb phrase meaning remove, take away, or clear away.

• ta = take
• bort = away
• ta bort = take away / remove

If you say only ta, it usually just means take and does not clearly express the idea of removing something from where it is.

So:

• ta tallriken = take the plate
• ta bort tallriken = remove the plate / take the plate away

It is best thought of as a verb + particle combination, often called a particle verb.

In Swedish, many common actions are expressed this way:

• slå på = turn on
• stänga av = turn off
• gå ut = go out
• ta bort = remove

In this sentence, the parts stay together:

• Kan du ta bort tallriken från bordet?

But in some contexts, Swedish particle verbs can behave differently from ordinary single-word verbs, so it is useful to learn ta bort as one unit of meaning.

Because tallriken means the plate, while en tallrik means a plate.

Swedish often puts the definite article at the end of the noun as a suffix:

• en tallrik = a plate
• tallriken = the plate

This is one of the most important differences from English. Instead of a separate word like the, Swedish usually adds the definite ending directly to the noun.

For the same reason as tallriken: bordet means the table.

• ett bord = a table
• bordet = the table

So från bordet means from the table.

In this sentence, both objects are specific:

• tallriken = the plate
• bordet = the table

Swedish commonly uses från in this kind of situation.

• från = from
• från bordet = literally from the table

Even though English often says off the table, Swedish does not need to match English exactly. The Swedish phrase is completely natural.

So when translating into Swedish, it is better to think:

• remove the plate from the table
  rather than trying to translate off word for word.

Usually, från bordet is the most natural choice here.

Av can sometimes correspond to English off, but in this sentence ta bort ... från bordet sounds more standard and idiomatic for remove ... from the table.

So for learners, the safest version is:

• ta bort tallriken från bordet

Because Swedish, like English, often puts the verb first in a yes/no question.

Compare:

• Du kan ta bort tallriken från bordet. = You can remove the plate from the table.
• Kan du ta bort tallriken från bordet? = Can you remove the plate from the table?

So the question is formed by putting kan before du.

Grammatically, kan means can, so it can relate to ability. But in real use, Kan du ...? is very often a request.

So depending on context, it may suggest:

• Are you able to remove the plate from the table?
• Will you remove the plate from the table?
• Could you remove the plate from the table?

In everyday speech, listeners usually understand it as a request, not a serious question about ability.

You can, but it changes the nuance.

• Kan du ta tallriken från bordet? can mean Can you take the plate from the table?
• Kan du ta bort tallriken från bordet? clearly means Can you remove the plate from the table?

Adding bort makes the idea of removal much clearer. If the goal is to clear the table, ta bort is the better choice.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

kahn du ta bort TAHL-ree-ken frohn BOOR-det

A few notes:

• kan sounds roughly like kahn
• du is like doo, but often lighter in normal speech
• ta is like tah
• bort has a short vowel and a crisp final t
• tallriken has the stress on -ri-: tal-LRI-ken or tahl-REE-ken, depending on how detailed you want to be
• från sounds roughly like frohn
• bordet is roughly BOOR-det

Also, in natural speech, Swedish often links words smoothly, so the whole sentence may sound more connected than the spelling suggests.

It is neutral and everyday. Du is the normal singular you in modern Swedish, and it is used in most situations.

So the sentence works well in ordinary spoken Swedish:

• at home
• among friends
• at work in many situations

If you wanted to sound more formal or especially polite, you would usually change the tone or add words like snälla, rather than changing du.

This sentence is useful because it shows several core Swedish patterns at once:

1. Question word order

   • Kan du ...? = Can you ...?

2. Particle verbs

   • ta bort = remove / take away

3. Definite noun endings

   • tallriken = the plate
   • bordet = the table

4. Preposition use

   • från = from

So it is a very good example of how Swedish often builds meaning differently from English, even when the overall sentence is simple.