Hon brukar nicka och peka när hon förklarar vart vi ska gå.

Brukar is used to talk about something that someone usually or tends to do.

So Hon brukar nicka och peka ... means something like:

• She usually nods and points ...
• She tends to nod and point ...

It describes a habitual action, not just something happening one time.

A useful pattern is:

• bruka + infinitive

For example:

• Jag brukar läsa på kvällen. = I usually read in the evening.
• De brukar komma tidigt. = They usually come early.

Because after brukar, Swedish uses the infinitive form of the main verb.

So:

• brukar nicka
• brukar peka

This is similar to English usually + verb, although English does not show the infinitive in the same way.

Compare:

• Hon brukar läsa. = She usually reads.
• Vi brukar äta här. = We usually eat here.

You do not add att after brukar in normal usage here.

Many Swedish verbs are followed directly by an infinitive without att, and bruka is one of them.

So you say:

• Hon brukar nicka
• not Hon brukar att nicka

Other common verbs that often take an infinitive without att include:

• kan
• ska
• vill
• måste
• får

For example:

• Jag kan simma.
• Vi ska gå.

• nicka = to nod
• peka = to point

So nicka och peka means nod and point.

These are both regular verbs in the infinitive here.

Examples:

• Han nickade ja. = He nodded yes.
• Hon pekade på kartan. = She pointed at the map.

När means when in this sentence.

It introduces a time clause:

• när hon förklarar vart vi ska gå
• when she explains where we are going / where we should go

So the sentence describes what she usually does when she is explaining.

A common pattern is:

• main clause + när
  • subordinate clause

Example:

• Jag lyssnar när du pratar. = I listen when you speak.

Because after när, Swedish uses normal subordinate-clause structure.

Here the subject comes before the verb:

• hon förklarar

That is the standard order: subject + verb.

If there were a sentence adverb like inte, it would usually come before the verb in a subordinate clause:

• när hon inte förklarar
• not när hon förklarar inte

This is an important Swedish pattern:

• Main clause: Hon förklarar inte.
• Subordinate clause: ... när hon inte förklarar.

This is a very common learner question.

• var = where (location, no movement)
• vart = where/to where (direction, movement)

Since the sentence talks about going somewhere:

• vart vi ska gå

that is about direction, so vart is natural.

Compare:

• Var är du? = Where are you?
• Vart ska du gå? = Where are you going?

In everyday spoken Swedish, many speakers use var in both cases, but traditionally and in careful usage, vart is preferred when there is movement.

Ska is the present tense of ska/skola in modern usage, and here it means something like:

• are going to
• are supposed to
• should

So vart vi ska gå means:

• where we are going to go
• where we should go

The verb pattern is:

• ska + infinitive

So:

• ska gå = are going to go / should go

Examples:

• Jag ska läsa. = I am going to read.
• Vi ska åka nu. = We are going to leave now.

Yes, gå often means walk, but it can also be used more broadly for go, depending on context.

In vart vi ska gå, it may mean:

• literally where we should walk/go
• more generally where we are supposed to go

Swedish often uses gå in contexts where English might simply say go.

But context matters. If the sentence is about movement on foot, walk is especially appropriate. If it is more about destination, English may prefer just go.

Swedish normally requires the subject to be stated, so repeating hon is natural and necessary here:

• Hon brukar ... när hon förklarar ...

In English, we also repeat she:

• She usually nods and points when she explains ...

Swedish does not usually drop subject pronouns the way some languages do.

Yes. Och simply means and.

It connects the two infinitives:

• nicka och peka

So she usually does both actions.

In speech, och is often pronounced in a reduced way, sometimes sounding more like å.

Example:

• bröd och smör often sounds close to bröd å smör

But in writing, it is still och.

Usually förklarar means explains, but depending on context it can also be understood as:

• is explaining
• explains
• gives directions/explains where to go

Since the sentence continues with vart vi ska gå, the idea is that she is explaining the route or destination.

So in natural English, you might translate the whole part as:

• when she explains where we should go
• when she explains where we're supposed to go
• when she gives directions about where to go

Förklarar is present tense.

Swedish often uses the present tense in places where English may also use the present, especially for habitual actions:

• Hon brukar ... när hon förklarar ...

This means something general and repeated:

• She usually ... when she explains ...

So the sentence is not focused on one specific past or future event. It describes a usual pattern.

You would change the verbs to past tense:

• Hon nickade och pekade när hon förklarade vart vi skulle gå.

Changes:

• brukar nicka och peka → nickade och pekade
• förklarar → förklarade
• ska gå → skulle gå

So:

• ska = are going to / should
• skulle = were going to / should in a past context

Yes, it is natural and idiomatic.

It has a very normal Swedish structure:

• Hon brukar
  • infinitives
• när
  • subordinate clause
• vart vi ska gå for direction/destination

It sounds like a natural description of someone's habitual way of giving directions or explaining something physically with gestures.