Vet du var saxen ligger, eller vart barnen tog den efter lektionen?

In Swedish, en sax is usually treated as a singular noun meaning a pair of scissors. So:

• en sax = a pair of scissors / scissors
• saxen = the scissors

English uses a plural-looking noun, but Swedish usually uses a singular one here. That is why the later pronoun is also singular: den.

Because sax is a common-gender singular noun (en word), the correct pronoun is den.

So:

• en sax → den
• ett bord → det

Even though English says them for scissors, Swedish treats sax as singular, so den is completely normal.

This is one of the most important things to notice.

• var = where? in the sense of location
• vart = where to? in the sense of direction or movement

So here:

• var saxen ligger = where the scissors are / where they are lying
• vart barnen tog den = where the children took it

The first part is about position. The second part is about movement to a place.

A simple way to remember it:

• var = location
• vart = destination

In everyday spoken Swedish, many speakers do use var where traditional grammar would prefer vart, and vice versa in some dialects. But in careful standard Swedish, the distinction is usually:

• var for location
• vart for motion toward a place

So in this sentence, vart barnen tog den is the more standard choice because the children moved the scissors somewhere.

Swedish often uses position verbs where English simply uses is/are.

Here, ligger literally means lies/is lying, but in normal English translation it usually just means is located or is.

So:

• Var ligger saxen? = Where are the scissors?
• literally: Where do the scissors lie?

This is very common in Swedish:

• things often ligger if they are lying somewhere
• things can står if they are standing
• things can sitter in some contexts

English is less specific here, but Swedish often prefers these verbs.

Because this is an embedded question after Vet du....

Compare:

• Direct question: Var ligger saxen?
• Embedded question: Vet du var saxen ligger?

In Swedish, direct questions often have inversion, but embedded questions usually do not. So the subject comes before the verb:

• var saxen ligger
• vart barnen tog den

This is a very common pattern and something English speakers often need to get used to.

Tog is the past tense of ta (to take).

• ta = take
• tog = took
• tagit = taken

It is used because the sentence refers to something that happened earlier:

• efter lektionen = after the lesson/class

So the meaning is that the children took the scissors somewhere after the lesson ended.

Barnen is the definite plural form, meaning the children.

• ett barn = a child
• barn = children
• barnen = the children

So the sentence is referring to specific children already known from the context.

It means after the lesson or after class, depending on context.

• efter = after
• lektionen = the lesson / the class session

If the setting is school, English might naturally translate this as after class. If it is a specific taught session, after the lesson also works well.

Because att is not used before an embedded question introduced by words like var, vart, när, hur, and so on.

So you say:

• Vet du var saxen ligger?
• Vet du vart barnen tog den?

Not:

• Vet du att var saxen ligger?

You use att with statements, not with this kind of question clause.

Compare:

• Jag vet att saxen ligger där. = I know that the scissors are there.
• Jag vet var saxen ligger. = I know where the scissors are.

Yes. Eller simply means or.

The speaker is asking between two possibilities:

• Do you know where the scissors are?
• Or do you know where the children took them after the lesson?

So eller links two alternatives in a very straightforward way.

Yes, very common. Vet du... ? means Do you know... ?

It is used just like in English before indirect questions:

• Vet du var han bor? = Do you know where he lives?
• Vet du när tåget går? = Do you know when the train leaves?
• Vet du varför hon gick? = Do you know why she left?

So this sentence is very natural Swedish.

Yes. The combined sentence is natural, but you could also say:

• Vet du var saxen ligger?
• Eller vart barnen tog den efter lektionen?

Or more fully:

• Vet du var saxen ligger, eller vet du vart barnen tog den efter lektionen?

In the original sentence, the second vet du is simply left out because it is understood from the first part. This kind of omission is very common and natural.