Jag skrev några rader i min dagbok i går kväll.

Skrev is the simple past of skriva = to write.

In Swedish, the simple past is very commonly used for a completed action at a specific time in the past, especially when the time is stated. Since the sentence includes i går kväll = last night / yesterday evening, skrev is the natural choice.

• Jag skrev ... i går kväll = I wrote ... last night.
• Jag har skrivit ... = I have written ...

Swedish uses the present perfect (har skrivit) a bit more narrowly than English have written. If the time is clearly finished and mentioned, Swedish usually prefers the simple past.

Literally, några rader means some lines.

It is a very natural expression in Swedish, especially when talking about writing something short, such as:

• in a diary
• in a letter
• in a message
• in a note

So skriva några rader is a common way to say write a few lines or write a little bit. It often suggests a short, informal amount of writing rather than a long text.

Because dagbok is a common gender noun in Swedish, also called an en-word.

Swedish nouns have two grammatical genders:

• en-words
• ett-words

Dagbok is an en-word, so its possessive form is:

• min dagbok = my diary

Compare:

• en bok → min bok
• en dagbok → min dagbok

If it were an ett-word, you would use mitt instead.

No, the two i’s do different jobs.

1. i min dagbok

Here i means in. It shows location or the place where the writing appears.

• i min dagbok = in my diary

2. i går kväll

Here i går is a fixed time expression meaning yesterday. So i går kväll means yesterday evening / last night.

So even though both use i, they are not functioning in exactly the same way:

• i min dagbok = preposition meaning in
• i går kväll = part of a fixed time phrase

Yes. In modern Swedish, igår is very common as a single word.

So these are both seen:

• i går kväll
• igår kväll

Both are understandable and accepted, though style guides and teaching materials may prefer one over the other depending on context. Learners often encounter i går written as two words in more careful or traditional materials, but igår is extremely common in everyday Swedish.

Because that is a very normal Swedish word order.

The sentence starts with the subject and verb:

• Jag skrev

Then comes what was written:

• några rader

Then where:

• i min dagbok

Then when:

• i går kväll

That order is natural and neutral.

But Swedish is flexible. You can also put the time first for emphasis:

• I går kväll skrev jag några rader i min dagbok.

Notice what happens there: when i går kväll moves to the front, the verb still stays in the second position. This is a very important Swedish rule called V2 word order.

So:

• Jag skrev ... i går kväll.
• I går kväll skrev jag ...

Both are correct.

Good question. Swedish often marks definiteness by adding an ending like -en or -et, but here the noun is made definite by the possessive min.

So Swedish normally says:

• min dagbok = my diary

not:

• min dagboken

That would be incorrect in standard Swedish.

This is similar to English in a way: if you say my diary, you do not also say the my diary. In Swedish, the possessive already makes the noun definite enough.

Några often corresponds to some or a few in English.

In this sentence, några rader suggests a small number of lines, so a few lines is probably the most natural sense.

The exact number is not important. The point is that it was not a long piece of writing.

Compare:

• några rader = a few lines
• många rader = many lines
• inga rader = no lines

So några is indefinite and small in quantity, but not exact.

Not in exactly the same way.

I går kväll means yesterday evening / last night, referring to a specific time.

På kvällen usually means in the evening or during the evening, often more generally.

Compare:

• Jag skrev några rader i min dagbok i går kväll.
  = I wrote a few lines in my diary last night.

• Jag skrev några rader i min dagbok på kvällen.
  = I wrote a few lines in my diary in the evening.

The second one is possible, but it is less specific unless the context already makes clear which evening you mean.

A few words here can be difficult for English speakers:

skrev

The skr cluster at the beginning can feel hard at first. Try to say it as one group: skrev.

några

The å sounds somewhat like the vowel in British law or more, though not exactly.
Also, in natural speech, några is often pronounced more like nåra.

går

Again, the å vowel appears here. The r may sound lighter than an English r, depending on accent.

dagbok

This is pronounced as a compound: dag + bok. Swedish compounds are usually stressed mainly on the first part, so the stress is on dag.

If you want to sound natural, it helps to listen for the rhythm of the whole sentence rather than only each word separately.

Because Swedish normally follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

That means the finite verb must come in the second position, even if something other than the subject comes first.

So:

• Jag skrev några rader i min dagbok i går kväll.

If you move the time phrase to the front, the verb must still stay second:

• I går kväll skrev jag några rader i min dagbok.

This is one of the biggest differences from English. English would usually keep the subject before the verb:

• Last night I wrote ...

But Swedish changes the order after a fronted element:

• I går kväll skrev jag ...

So I går kväll jag skrev ... is not correct in standard Swedish.