Jag måste torka bordet innan gästerna kommer, och sedan ska jag gömma presenten.

They are both modal verbs, but they do different jobs.

• måste means must / have to. It shows necessity.
• ska often means will / going to / am supposed to. It shows a plan, intention, or something expected to happen.

So here:

• Jag måste torka bordet = I have to wipe the table.
• sedan ska jag gömma presenten = then I’m going to hide the present.

A native English speaker often wants to translate both as future, but måste is about obligation, while ska is about what happens next or what the speaker intends to do.

Both can exist, but they are not exactly the same.

• torka bordet = wipe/dry the table
• torka av bordet = wipe off the table

In everyday Swedish, torka bordet is very natural and common when you mean wiping the surface clean. Adding av can make the action feel a bit more specifically like wiping something off the table or wiping the surface off.

So torka bordet is completely normal here.

Because Swedish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

• bord = table

• bordet = the table

• present = present/gift
• presenten = the present

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of putting the before the noun, Swedish often puts the definiteness on the noun itself.

So:

• torka bordet = wipe the table
• gömma presenten = hide the present

gästerna means the guests.

Here is the pattern:

• gäst = guest
• gäster = guests
• gästerna = the guests

So -na here is the definite plural ending. English uses a separate word, the, but Swedish often puts that meaning at the end of the plural noun.

In Swedish, the present tense is often used for future events when the time is clear from context.

So innan gästerna kommer literally looks like before the guests come, but in natural English it often means before the guests arrive or before the guests are coming over.

This is very common in Swedish:

• Jag ringer dig imorgon. = I’ll call you tomorrow.
• Vi ses på fredag. = We’ll see each other on Friday.

Because innan already points to a future event, kommer works perfectly well.

Because modal verbs in Swedish are normally followed directly by the infinitive, without att.

So:

• Jag måste torka
• Jag ska gömma

not:

• Jag måste att torka
• Jag ska att gömma

This is similar to English in many cases:

• I must wipe
• I will hide

not:

• I must to wipe
• I will to hide

So if you learn Swedish modal verbs like kan, vill, ska, måste, får, it is useful to remember that they are usually followed by the bare infinitive.

This is because Swedish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in main clauses.

Here, sedan comes first, so the verb ska must come next:

• Sedan ska jag gömma presenten.

Structure:

• first element: sedan
• second element: ska
• then subject: jag

This can feel strange to English speakers, because English would keep the subject before the verb:

• Then I will hide the present.

But Swedish main clauses often do this inversion after a time word or other element at the front:

• Idag ska jag jobba.
• Nu måste vi gå.
• Sedan ska jag gömma presenten.

Because innan introduces a subordinate clause.

In Swedish subordinate clauses, the word order is usually more like English:

• innan gästerna kommer

Subject first:

• gästerna = the guests
• kommer = come/arrive

So compare:

Main clause:

• Sedan ska jag gömma presenten.

Subordinate clause:

• innan gästerna kommer

A useful beginner rule is:

• main clause: verb often comes second
• subordinate clause: subject usually comes before the verb

Here sedan means then / afterwards.

Yes, sedan and sen are closely related. In everyday speech, sen is very common and a bit less formal.

So you might hear:

• ... och sedan ska jag gömma presenten
• ... och sen ska jag gömma presenten

Both are natural. sedan can sound a little more complete or slightly more formal in writing, but the difference is not huge.

gömma means to hide.

So gömma presenten means hide the present.

It is a transitive verb here, meaning it takes a direct object:

• gömma något = hide something

Related forms:

• Jag gömmer presenten = I hide/am hiding the present
• Jag gömde presenten = I hid the present
• presenten är gömd = the present is hidden

In this sentence, it sounds like the speaker wants to hide the gift before the guests arrive, probably so it stays a surprise.

These words contain sounds that can be tricky for English speakers.

• måste: roughly MOS-teh, with å sounding somewhat like the vowel in British more or law, depending on accent
• gästerna: roughly YES-ter-na, but with ä as a front vowel, a bit like the vowel in bed, though not identical
• gömma: roughly YEM-ma or YURM-ma depending on how you approximate it, but the gö sound does not exist exactly in English

A few important points:

• g before ä, e, i, y, ö is often pronounced like y in many common words, which is why gästerna and gömma begin with a y-like sound.
• ö is a special Swedish vowel, and English speakers usually need practice with it.
• Double consonants, like in gömma, usually mean the preceding vowel is short.

If you want a practical learner’s approximation:

• måste ≈ MOS-teh
• gästerna ≈ YES-ter-na
• gömma ≈ YEM-ma

Not always. Swedish punctuation is often a bit lighter than English punctuation in similar sentences.

You could write:

• Jag måste torka bordet innan gästerna kommer och sedan ska jag gömma presenten.

or:

• Jag måste torka bordet innan gästerna kommer, och sedan ska jag gömma presenten.

The comma can help readability because the sentence is fairly long and contains two coordinated main parts. So it is not strange here, but in everyday Swedish many writers would also leave it out.

The grammar of the sentence does not depend on the comma.