Vad menar du med det där meddelandet, och varför bryr du dig så mycket om det?

Literally, vad menar du med ... means what do you mean by ....

So:

• Vad menar du med det där meddelandet? = What do you mean by that message?

This is a very common Swedish pattern. You can use it with many nouns:

• Vad menar du med det? = What do you mean by that?
• Vad menar du med kommentaren? = What do you mean by the comment?
• Vad menar du med det där? = What do you mean by that?

Notice that Swedish uses med where English also uses by in this expression.

Det där meddelandet means that message in the sense of that message over there / that specific message / that one.

Swedish often uses this pattern:

• det här + definite noun = this ...
• det där + definite noun = that ...

Examples:

• det här huset = this house
• det där huset = that house
• det här meddelandet = this message
• det där meddelandet = that message

You should notice that the noun is in the definite form too:

• ett meddelande = a message
• meddelandet = the message

So Swedish says something like that-the message. This is normal Swedish grammar.

Because the sentence is referring to a specific message, so Swedish uses the definite form.

The noun is:

• ett meddelande = a message

Since it is a neuter noun (ett noun), the definite singular ending is -t:

• meddelande → meddelandet = the message

This happens with many ett nouns:

• ett hus → huset = the house
• ett brev → brevet = the letter
• ett meddelande → meddelandet = the message

In det där meddelandet, the noun stays definite because Swedish demonstratives like det där are commonly used with the definite form of the noun.

Det där usually means that.

It points to something a bit more specifically than plain det. Depending on context, it can suggest:

• that one
• that thing
• that particular
• sometimes a slightly emotional tone, like that message of yours or that message there

In this sentence, det där meddelandet is not just any message. It is a specific one that both speakers know about.

Compare:

• det meddelandet = that message or sometimes the message, depending on context
• det där meddelandet = that message / that particular message

So där adds a stronger pointing effect.

The final det refers back to det där meddelandet.

So:

• varför bryr du dig så mycket om det? = why do you care so much about it?

Swedish often uses a pronoun like det to refer back to something already mentioned, just like English uses it.

So the sentence first names the thing:

• det där meddelandet = that message

Then it refers back to it:

• om det = about it

The verb is bry sig om, which means to care about.

This is a reflexive verb, so it needs a reflexive pronoun:

• jag bryr mig om ... = I care about ...
• du bryr dig om ... = you care about ...
• han bryr sig om ... = he cares about ...

So in your sentence:

• varför bryr du dig så mycket om det? = why do you care so much about it?

You cannot normally drop dig here. It is part of the verb expression.

A quick table:

• jag bryr mig om det
• du bryr dig om det
• vi bryr oss om det

In standard Swedish, the normal expression is bry sig om.

So you say:

• Jag bryr mig om dig. = I care about you.
• Hon bryr sig inte om pengar. = She doesn’t care about money.

Without the reflexive pronoun, it sounds incomplete or wrong in standard usage.

Also, bry sig om can mean either:

1. care about
2. mind / be concerned about

Examples:

• Jag bryr mig om honom. = I care about him.
• Jag bryr mig inte om vad de säger. = I don’t care about what they say.

So in your sentence, it clearly means care about.

Because these are direct questions in Swedish, and Swedish normally uses verb-second word order.

In a direct question with a question word, the structure is usually:

• question word + verb + subject

So:

• Vad menar du ...? = What do you mean ...?
• Varför bryr du dig ...? = Why do you care ...?

Compare with statements:

• Du menar det. = You mean that.
• Du bryr dig om det. = You care about it.

In questions, the verb moves before the subject:

• Vad menar du?
• Varför bryr du dig?

This is very important in Swedish.

Så mycket means so much.

In the phrase:

• bryr du dig så mycket om det

the adverbial så mycket modifies bryr dig om, meaning it tells you the degree of caring:

• care so much about it

Word-for-word, Swedish is very similar to English here:

• varför = why
• bryr du dig = do you care
• så mycket = so much
• om det = about it

So the whole phrase maps quite neatly onto English: why do you care so much about it?

Yes, that is also possible.

Both of these are natural:

• Varför bryr du dig så mycket om det?
• Varför bryr du dig om det så mycket?

The first one is probably a bit more neutral and flowing in many contexts. The second one puts om det a little earlier and may slightly shift the rhythm or emphasis.

Swedish often allows this kind of flexibility with adverbials like så mycket.

Yes, potentially.

Det där can sometimes sound slightly pointed, annoyed, skeptical, or emotionally loaded, depending on tone of voice.

So:

• Vad menar du med det där meddelandet?

could be neutral:

• What do you mean by that message?

But it could also sound like:

• What do you mean by that message?
• What’s with that message?
• What did you mean with that particular message?

So the grammar is neutral, but the choice of det där may suggest that the speaker is reacting to something noticeable, strange, or important.

This sentence sounds fairly natural spoken Swedish and can carry some emotion, especially because of det där and så mycket.

A less pointed version could be:

• Vad menar du med meddelandet, och varför bryr du dig så mycket om det?

That removes the stronger pointing effect of det där.

A more formal alternative might be:

• Vad menar du med det meddelandet, och varför är det så viktigt för dig? = What do you mean by that message, and why is it so important to you?

But the original sentence is completely normal and idiomatic.

In natural speech, some parts may be reduced a little, especially det där and bryr du dig.

A careful pronunciation would be something like:

• Vad menar du med det där meddelandet, och varför bryr du dig så mycket om det?

In faster speech, learners may hear something closer to:

• Va menar du me de där meddelandet, å varför bryr du dej så mycke om de?

That is not a different spelling standard; it is just a rough idea of how spoken Swedish may sound.

A few things to notice:

• vad often sounds like va
• med may sound like me
• och often sounds like å
• det may sound lighter, almost like de in speech
• mycket is often pronounced more like mycke

This is useful for listening, even though you should keep writing the standard forms.

Yes. A very helpful way is:

• Vad menar du
• med det där meddelandet,
• och varför
• bryr du dig
• så mycket
• om det?

Piece by piece:

• Vad menar du = What do you mean
• med det där meddelandet = by that message
• och varför = and why
• bryr du dig = do you care
• så mycket = so much
• om det = about it

This kind of chunking is very useful because it shows you the sentence is built from several common Swedish patterns rather than one long difficult structure.