Hon skulle precis hämta måttbandet, men hon hittade det inte.

Here, skulle + infinitive means was going to or was about to from a past point of view.

So:

• Hon skulle hämta måttbandet = She was going to get the tape measure
• Hon skulle precis hämta måttbandet = She was just about to get the tape measure

So this is not really a conditional would. It is describing an intended or expected action in the past.

In this sentence, precis means something like just, right then, or just about.

So skulle precis hämta means:

• was just about to fetch
• was just going to get

Be careful: precis can also mean exactly in other contexts.

For example:

• Precis! = Exactly!
• klockan precis tre = exactly three o’clock

Because Swedish very often makes compound nouns by joining words together.

Here:

• mått = measurement
• band = band/tape
• måttband = measuring tape / tape measure

Then Swedish adds the definite ending to the noun:

• ett måttband = a tape measure
• måttbandet = the tape measure

So instead of writing separate words, Swedish combines them into one noun.

The ending -et is the definite article attached to the noun. Swedish usually puts the at the end of the word instead of using a separate word.

Here the base noun is:

• ett måttband = a tape measure

The definite form is:

• måttbandet = the tape measure

This happens because måttband is an ett-word (a neuter noun).

Because måttband is an ett-word, so the matching pronoun is det.

• ett måttband → det
• en bok → den

So:

• Hon hittade det inte = She didn’t find it

Here det refers back to måttbandet.

Because in a Swedish main clause, the finite verb normally comes early, and inte usually comes after that verb.

So:

• Hon hittade det inte = correct

A native English speaker may want to say something like hon inte hittade det, but that is not correct in a normal main clause.

Compare:

• Hon hittade det inte. = main clause
• ... eftersom hon inte hittade det. = subordinate clause

In subordinate clauses, inte usually comes before the verb.

Because men introduces a new clause, and that new clause needs its own subject.

So the sentence has two parts:

• Hon skulle precis hämta måttbandet
• men hon hittade det inte

In English, learners sometimes expect the second she to be optional, but in Swedish it must be there here.

Hämta means fetch, go get, or pick up. It usually suggests going to get something from somewhere.

That fits well with a tape measure:

• hämta måttbandet = go get the tape measure

By contrast:

• ta often means take
• få means get/receive

So hämta is the natural choice if someone is going to retrieve an object.

Because this sentence is telling a past event as part of a narrative.

• hon hittade det inte = she didn’t find it

That is a normal storytelling past tense in Swedish.

If you said har inte hittat, it would connect the situation more strongly to the present:

• Hon har inte hittat det = She hasn’t found it

In your sentence, the speaker is describing what happened at that moment in the past, so hittade is the natural form.

Usually, Hon skulle precis hämta måttbandet is the most natural word order for this meaning.

Putting precis before hämta makes it clear that it means just about to.

If you move it, the sentence may sound unnatural or the emphasis may change. For this specific meaning, keeping precis where it is is the safest choice for learners.