När vi kom fram viskade hon till mig att jag kunde blunda, och sedan kramade hon mig.

När means when and introduces a time clause: När vi kom fram = When we arrived.

A few useful points:

• när starts a subordinate clause.
• In that clause, Swedish keeps the normal subject–verb order:
  • vi kom fram = we arrived
• This whole clause sets the time for what follows.

So the structure is:

• När vi kom fram = time/background
• viskade hon till mig ... = main action

Kom fram means arrived or more literally came forward / came to the destination, depending on context.

In this sentence, kom fram is the natural way to say arrived.

• kom = came
• fram = forward / to the front / to the destination

Together, komma fram is a very common expression meaning:

• to arrive
• to reach a place
• sometimes to get through or to become visible, in other contexts

Here it clearly means arrived.

This is because Swedish uses V2 word order in main clauses. That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

The sentence starts with the subordinate clause:

• När vi kom fram

After that, the main clause begins, and the verb must come first within that clause:

• viskade hon till mig

So the pattern is:

• När vi kom fram, viskade hon ...

not

• När vi kom fram, hon viskade ...

This is very common in Swedish:

• Igår gick jag hem. = Yesterday I went home.
• När han kom, började vi äta. = When he arrived, we started eating.

Because in Swedish, viska often takes till någon when you say who the whisper was directed to.

So:

• viskade till mig = whispered to me

This is similar to English whisper to someone.

You may also see other patterns in Swedish, but viska till någon is very natural and common.

So here:

• hon viskade till mig = she whispered to me

Here att means that and introduces a content clause, reporting what she whispered.

So:

• hon viskade till mig att ... = she whispered to me that ...

This works very much like English:

• She said that ...
• She whispered that ...

In Swedish, att is often used where English may use that, even in places where English might omit it.

Kunde is the past tense of kan.

• kan = can
• kunde = could

Since the main narration is in the past:

• kom
• viskade
• kramade

it is natural for the reported clause to also shift into the past:

• att jag kunde blunda

In context, kunde may mean:

• could
• was allowed to
• was able to

Here it most likely means something like:

• that I could close my eyes
• or that I was allowed to close my eyes

Blunda means to close one’s eyes.

There is no att before blunda because kunna is a modal verb, and modal verbs are followed by the infinitive without att.

So:

• jag kan blunda = I can close my eyes
• jag kunde blunda = I could close my eyes

This is like other modal verbs in Swedish:

• jag vill gå = I want to go
• jag ska läsa = I will read
• jag måste sova = I must sleep

No att after the modal.

The comma helps separate the first part of the sentence from the next action:

• ... att jag kunde blunda, och sedan kramade hon mig.

In Swedish, comma usage can be a bit more flexible than some learners expect. This comma is acceptable because the sentence is fairly long and has multiple clauses.

The key grammar point is not really the comma, but the structure after sedan.

Again, this is Swedish V2 word order.

Sedan here means then / afterwards and takes the first position in the main clause. That means the verb must come next:

• sedan kramade hon mig

not

• sedan hon kramade mig

Compare:

• Sedan gick vi hem. = Then we went home.
• Nu kommer han. = Now he comes / He is coming now.

If sedan were part of a different kind of clause, word order could change, but here it is a normal main clause, so the verb comes second.

Yes, in this sentence kramade means hugged.

• krama = to hug
• kramade = hugged

It is a very common, natural word for a hug in Swedish.

So:

• hon kramade mig = she hugged me

Because mig is the object form of jag (I / me), and here it has two different roles:

1. till mig = to me
2. kramade mig = hugged me

So both are correct because both refer to me, but in different parts of the sentence.

Swedish object pronouns are:

• jag → mig
• du → dig
• han → honom
• hon → henne
• vi → oss
• ni → er
• de → dem

Yes, mostly.

• sedan is the full form
• sen is a shorter, more informal form

Both can mean:

• then
• afterwards
• sometimes later, depending on context

In this sentence, sedan sounds a bit more neutral or written, while sen would be common in speech:

• ... och sedan kramade hon mig
• ... och sen kramade hon mig

Both are natural.

It can be broken down like this:

1. När vi kom fram
   = subordinate time clause
   (When we arrived)

2. viskade hon till mig
   = main clause
   (she whispered to me)

3. att jag kunde blunda
   = content clause after att
   (that I could close my eyes)

4. och sedan kramade hon mig
   = coordinated main clause
   (and then she hugged me)

So the sentence combines:

• a time clause
• a main clause
• a reported/content clause
• another main clause

That is why word order changes in different parts of the sentence.