Vi ska läsa kontraktet först och skriva under senare.

Ska is the present tense of ska in the sense of be going to / will / shall. It is often used to talk about something planned, intended, or expected in the future.

In this sentence, Vi ska läsa ... och skriva under ... means that we are going to read ... and sign ....

A useful pattern is:

• ska + infinitive
• vi ska läsa
• vi ska skriva under

So ska is the helping verb, and läsa and skriva stay in the infinitive.

After the modal verb ska, Swedish normally uses the infinitive without att.

So you say:

• Vi ska läsa
• Vi ska skriva under

not:

• Vi ska att läsa
• Vi ska att skriva under

This is similar to English modal verbs:

• we will read
• we can read
• we must read

You do not say we will to read, and Swedish works similarly here.

Because both verbs belong to the same modal verb ska.

The structure is:

• Vi ska läsa kontraktet först
• och skriva under senare

The second verb skriva under is coordinated with läsa, so Swedish does not need to repeat ska.

You could repeat it for emphasis or clarity:

• Vi ska läsa kontraktet först och ska skriva under senare

but that sounds less natural in most everyday contexts. Usually Swedish mentions ska once when it applies to both verbs.

Swedish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

So:

• ett kontrakt = a contract
• kontraktet = the contract

The ending -et is the definite ending for this neuter noun.

This is very common in Swedish:

• ett hus → huset
• ett brev → brevet
• ett kontrakt → kontraktet

So kontraktet simply means the contract.

Skriva under is a fixed verb expression meaning to sign or more literally to sign under.

Even though skriva by itself means write, the combination skriva under has the specific meaning sign a document.

So:

• skriva = write
• skriva under = sign

This is similar to phrasal verbs in English, where a small extra word changes the meaning:

• write vs write down
• sign is not built this way in English, but Swedish often is

So you should learn skriva under as a unit.

It can be split in some sentence patterns.

In the sentence you were given, it stays together:

• skriva under senare

But in other contexts, the object can come in between:

• skriva kontraktet under

That is grammatically possible, though with this particular verb, many speakers often prefer keeping under close to skriva, especially in modern standard usage:

• skriva under kontraktet

You will also see tense forms where the particle comes later:

• Vi skrev under kontraktet igår.
• Har du skrivit under än?

So yes, Swedish particle verbs can sometimes separate, but for learners it is safest to remember the full expression skriva under and notice how native examples place it.

They are time adverbs.

• först = first
• senare = later

They show the order of actions:

1. read the contract
2. sign later

Their placement is very natural in Swedish:

• läsa kontraktet först
• skriva under senare

Swedish adverbs of time often come after the verb phrase or near the end of the clause, especially in straightforward main clauses like this one.

Yes, sometimes, but the nuance is a little different.

• senare = later
• sedan = then / afterwards
• sen = later / then, more informal in many contexts

So these are all possible in similar sentences, but they are not always exact matches in tone.

Examples:

• Vi ska läsa kontraktet först och skriva under senare.
  Emphasizes at a later time.

• Vi ska läsa kontraktet först och sedan skriva under.
  Emphasizes and then sign as the next step.

Both are natural. The original sentence with senare suggests a clearer time gap.

Because the object kontraktet is already understood from the first verb.

The sentence means that the same object belongs to both actions:

• read the contract
• sign the contract

Swedish, like English, often leaves out repeated words when they are obvious from context.

Compare English:

• We’ll read the contract first and sign later.

You do not have to repeat the contract after sign if the meaning is clear.

Yes, but it is also quite regular.

The sentence follows normal Swedish main-clause order:

• Vi = subject
• ska = finite verb
• läsa kontraktet först och skriva under senare = rest of the predicate

A key rule in Swedish is that the finite verb usually comes in the second position in a main clause. Here that verb is ska.

So the beginning is very standard:

• Vi ska ...

After that come the infinitives and other elements.

For a learner, the main word-order points are:

• subject first: Vi
• finite verb second: ska
• infinitives later: läsa, skriva
• time words placed naturally after the action: först, senare

It sounds neutral and natural. It would work well in everyday speech, business situations, or written instructions.

A few notes:

• kontraktet makes the context sound a bit formal or professional because of the noun itself
• the grammar is completely standard
• senare sounds slightly more neutral or formal than very conversational sen

So overall, this is a normal standard Swedish sentence that would not sound strange in either spoken or written language.