Kan vi sitta ner och prata?

Because this is a yes/no question.

In Swedish, a very common way to make a yes/no question is to put the finite verb first:

• Vi kan sitta ner och prata. = We can sit down and talk.
• Kan vi sitta ner och prata? = Can we sit down and talk?

So kan comes first because the speaker is asking a question, not making a statement.

Kan is the present tense of kunna, which usually means can / to be able to.

In this sentence, kan vi ...? can mean a few closely related things depending on context:

• Can we ...? = Is it possible?
• May we ...? = Is it allowed?
• Could we ...? = A polite suggestion

So even though kan literally matches English can, in real use it can also sound like a polite proposal.

Because Swedish question word order is different from statement word order.

• Statement: Vi kan sitta ner och prata.
• Question: Kan vi sitta ner och prata?

So in a yes/no question, the verb kan comes first, and the subject vi comes after it.

This is very similar to English:

• We can sit down and talk.
• Can we sit down and talk?

Sitta means sit / be sitting, and ner means down.

So sitta ner is basically sit down.

However, in Swedish, ner is often used a bit more flexibly than English down. It can make the action sound more complete or natural in context. In many situations, both of these are possible:

• sitta ner
• sitta

So Kan vi sitta ner och prata? and Kan vi sitta och prata? can both be natural, though ner adds the sense of actually settling down.

This is a very common question, because English often uses sit down for both ideas.

In Swedish, there is an important difference:

• sitta = to be sitting
• sätta sig = to sit down as an action of moving into a seated position

So:

• Kan vi sitta ner och prata? can sound like Can we sit down and talk? / Can we be seated and talk?
• Kan vi sätta oss ner och prata? more clearly emphasizes the act of sitting down first

In everyday speech, both can work, but sätta oss ner often sounds a bit more precise if you mean let’s take a seat.

Because after a modal verb like kan, Swedish normally uses the bare infinitive, without att.

So you say:

• kan sitta
• kan prata

not:

• kan att sitta
• kan att prata

This is very similar to English:

• can sit
• can talk

not:

• can to sit
• can to talk

Because both verbs belong to the same subject, vi, and are linked by och.

So the structure is:

• Kan = finite verb
• vi = subject
• sitta ner and prata = two coordinated infinitives

You do not need to repeat the subject:

• Kan vi sitta ner och prata?

Just like in English, you normally would not say:

• Can we sit down and can we talk?

unless you wanted special emphasis.

Och means and.

It connects the two actions:

• sitta ner = sit down
• prata = talk

So the idea is that the speaker wants both actions as part of one situation: first get seated, then have a conversation.

They are similar, but not always identical in tone.

• prata = talk, chat, speak
• tala = speak

In many everyday situations, prata sounds more natural and conversational. Tala can sound a bit more formal or deliberate, though it is also common in some fixed expressions.

In this sentence, prata is very natural because the whole sentence sounds friendly and everyday:

• Kan vi sitta ner och prata?

Yes, absolutely.

Kan vi sitta och prata? is very natural Swedish.

The difference is small:

• sitta och prata = sit and talk / be sitting and talking
• sitta ner och prata = sit down and talk, with a little more focus on settling down first

In many contexts, either one works.

Yes, it is generally polite and natural.

Kan vi sitta ner och prata? sounds like:

• a suggestion
• a request
• an invitation to discuss something calmly

If you want to sound even softer or more formal, Swedish might also use:

• Skulle vi kunna sitta ner och prata? = Could we sit down and talk?
• Kan vi sätta oss ner och prata? = Can we sit down and talk?

But the original sentence is already normal and polite in everyday speech.

Often, yes.

While it can be completely neutral, sitta ner och prata often suggests:

• taking time
• discussing something properly
• talking calmly and seriously

This is similar to English sit down and talk. Depending on tone and context, it may imply that something important needs to be discussed.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

• kan ≈ kahn
• vi ≈ vee
• sitta ≈ SIT-tah
• ner ≈ nair / nehr
• och is often pronounced like a very short å sound in everyday speech, roughly å
• prata ≈ PRAH-tah

A very rough full pronunciation could be:

kahn vee SIT-tah nehr å PRAH-tah

A few useful notes:

• The r in Swedish is not usually the same as an English r.
• The a in prata is longer than an English short a.
• In casual speech, och is often reduced and not pronounced like a strong separate word.

The statement version is:

Vi kan sitta ner och prata.

This is useful to compare with the question:

• Statement: Vi kan sitta ner och prata.
• Question: Kan vi sitta ner och prata?

The main change is the position of kan and vi. This is a basic and very important Swedish word-order pattern.