Efter flytten trivs hon bättre i den nya lägenheten.

Because flytten refers to a specific move that the speaker has in mind: the move.

In Swedish, after words like efter (after), it is very common to use the definite form when talking about a known event:

• efter middagen = after dinner
• efter lektionen = after the lesson
• efter flytten = after the move

So here, flytten does not mean moving in general; it means the move that has already been mentioned or is understood from context.

This is because Swedish follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb must come in second position.

Here, Efter flytten is placed first as a time expression. That means the verb must come next:

• Efter flytten = first element
• trivs = second element
• hon = subject, after the verb

So:

• Efter flytten trivs hon bättre... = correct
• Efter flytten hon trivs bättre... = incorrect in a main clause

If the subject comes first, then the normal order is:

• Hon trivs bättre i den nya lägenheten efter flytten.

Both are possible, but the original sentence emphasizes after the move.

Trivs is the present tense of the verb trivas.

Trivas means something like:

• to feel comfortable
• to enjoy being somewhere
• to thrive

So hon trivs means she feels comfortable / she is doing well / she likes it there.

A useful thing to know is that trivas is an -s verb. The -s is part of the verb itself here; it is not passive.

Some forms are:

• att trivas = to feel comfortable / to thrive
• trivs = feels comfortable / thrives
• trivdes = felt comfortable / thrived
• trivts = felt comfortable / thrived (supine)

Because bättre is the normal comparative form of bra (good / well), and it is irregular.

Just like in English:

• good → better
• not more good

In Swedish:

• bra → bättre
• not normally mer bra

Here bättre works like better in English:

• Hon trivs bättre = She feels better / more comfortable

With trivas, Swedish naturally uses bättre to compare how comfortable someone feels.

Nothing is grammatically missing. Swedish often leaves the comparison implicit if the context makes it clear.

So hon trivs bättre can mean:

• she feels better than before
• she feels better than in the old apartment
• she feels better after the move than earlier

The sentence does not specify exactly what the comparison is against, because the context usually does that work.

This is a very common Swedish pattern called double definiteness.

When a noun is definite and has an adjective in front of it, Swedish usually marks definiteness twice:

1. with a separate word like den
2. with the definite ending on the noun

So:

• lägenheten = the apartment
• den nya lägenheten = the new apartment

Breakdown:

• den = the
• nya = new
• lägenheten = apartment-the

This is standard Swedish.

Compare:

• en ny lägenhet = a new apartment
• den nya lägenheten = the new apartment

Because in a definite noun phrase, adjectives usually take the weak form, which for many adjectives is -a.

So:

• en ny lägenhet = a new apartment
• den nya lägenheten = the new apartment

Here, the phrase is definite because of den and -en on lägenheten, so the adjective becomes nya.

This happens regardless of the noun’s gender in many common definite singular phrases:

• den nya boken = the new book
• det nya huset = the new house

Because with an apartment, Swedish normally uses i for being inside it.

So:

• i lägenheten = in the apartment
• i huset = in the house
• i rummet = in the room

På is used in other kinds of expressions, for example with:

• surfaces
• islands
• some institutions or activities

But with lägenhet, the normal preposition is i.

Yes. For example:

• Hon trivs bättre i den nya lägenheten efter flytten.

This is also grammatical.

The difference is mainly in focus:

• Efter flytten trivs hon bättre... puts emphasis on the time frame: after the move
• Hon trivs bättre... starts with she, which is more neutral

So the original sentence is a natural choice if the speaker wants to highlight the contrast between before and after the move.