Hon öppnade garderoben och letade efter sin kam innan hon skulle kamma håret.

Because Swedish often uses the definite form when talking about a specific thing, just like English uses the.

• garderob = wardrobe / closet
• garderoben = the wardrobe / the closet

The ending -en is the definite article attached to the noun. So öppnade garderoben means opened the wardrobe/closet.

Because the verb leta normally goes with efter when you mean look for.

• leta efter något = look for something

So:

• letade efter sin kam = looked for her comb

In standard Swedish, leta usually does not take a direct object by itself in this meaning, so letade sin kam would sound wrong.

This is one of the most important Swedish grammar points: sin/sitt/sina are reflexive possessive pronouns.

You use sin when the thing belongs to the subject of the clause.

Here, the subject is hon, and the comb belongs to that same person:

• Hon letade efter sin kam = she looked for her own comb

If you said hennes kam, it would usually mean someone else’s comb or would strongly emphasize whose comb it was.

Also:

• sin is used with en-words
• sitt is used with ett-words
• sina is used with plural nouns

Yes. They come from the same basic idea:

• en kam = a comb
• att kamma = to comb

So Swedish often has a noun and a related verb like this. In this sentence, that creates a nice natural connection:

• she looked for her comb
• before she was going to comb her hair

Here skulle is being used to express something like was going to or was about to in the past.

• hon skulle kamma håret = she was going to comb her hair

This is a very common use of skulle in narration. It often describes something that was expected or planned from a past point of view.

So the sentence is not just saying she combed her hair. It says this happened before the moment when she intended/was about to comb it.

Because Swedish often uses the definite form for body parts when the owner is already obvious.

So instead of saying her hair, Swedish very naturally says the hair:

• kamma håret = comb one’s hair
• tvätta händerna = wash one’s hands
• borsta tänderna = brush one’s teeth

So hon skulle kamma håret is the normal, idiomatic way to say it.

You can sometimes say sitt hår, but that is less neutral here and may sound more emphatic or contrastive.

They are in the preterite (simple past).

• öppnade = opened
• letade = looked / searched

This is the normal tense for telling a story in Swedish.

Notice that Swedish preterite is usually just one word, unlike English, which sometimes needs extra words depending on context.

Because innan hon skulle kamma håret is a new clause, and that clause needs its own subject.

So even though English also repeats she here, learners sometimes wonder if Swedish could leave it out. Normally, it cannot.

• innan hon skulle kamma håret = before she was going to comb her hair

The subject hon must be stated in that clause.

Normally, no. In this sentence, you just use innan by itself.

• innan hon skulle kamma håret = correct

Adding att here would sound wrong in standard Swedish.

A useful rule is:

• innan + clause
• innan + noun phrase

Examples:

• innan hon kom = before she came
• innan middagen = before dinner

Yes: it is a subordinate clause, introduced by innan.

In this sentence, the order is straightforward:

• innan
  • hon
    • skulle
      • kamma håret

That is normal Swedish clause order here.

A useful thing to know is that subordinate clauses in Swedish do not follow the same strict verb-second pattern as main clauses. You do not move skulle in front of hon.

So:

• innan hon skulle kamma håret = correct
• innan skulle hon kamma håret = wrong here