Kan du ta fram måttbandet så att vi kan mäta hyllan igen?

In this sentence, it is mainly a request, just like English Can you ... ?

Grammatically, kan means can / be able to, but in everyday Swedish, Kan du ta fram måttbandet? is a normal, polite way to ask someone to do something.

So here it is understood as: Could you get the measuring tape out?

If you want to sound even more polite, Swedish often uses: Skulle du kunna ta fram måttbandet?
= Could you get the measuring tape out?

Ta fram is a very common Swedish verb phrase. Here it means:

• take out
• bring out
• get out

So ta fram måttbandet means get the measuring tape out.

Literally, ta = take and fram = forward / out, but together the phrase often has the practical sense of bringing something into use.

Examples:

• Kan du ta fram nycklarna? = Can you get the keys out?
• Hon tog fram mobilen. = She took out her phone.

Måttbandet is the definite form, meaning the measuring tape.

The base noun is:

• ett måttband = a measuring tape

The definite form is:

• måttbandet = the measuring tape

Swedish usually adds the definite article as an ending on the noun, instead of putting a separate word in front like English the.

So:

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

Here, the speaker probably means a specific measuring tape that both people know about.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Swedish.

It is made from:

• mått = measurement
• band = band / tape

So måttband literally means something like measurement tape, i.e. measuring tape / tape measure.

Swedish forms a huge number of everyday nouns this way, by joining smaller words together.

Så att here means so that.

It introduces the purpose of the first action:

• Kan du ta fram måttbandet = Can you get the measuring tape out
• så att vi kan mäta hyllan igen = so that we can measure the shelf again

So the full logic is: Please get the measuring tape out, in order for us to be able to measure the shelf again.

In everyday English, this is often just so we can ...

This is a very common learner question.

In many cases:

• för att = in order to / to
• så att = so that

In this sentence, så att works well because there is a full clause after it: vi kan mäta hyllan igen

So:

• så att vi kan mäta ... = so that we can measure ...

If you use för att, it often introduces an infinitive phrase:

• för att mäta hyllan = to measure the shelf

A natural alternative sentence would be: Kan du ta fram måttbandet för att vi ska kunna mäta hyllan igen?

But the original with så att vi kan ... is very natural and straightforward.

Because så att introduces a subordinate clause, and Swedish subordinate clauses normally have subject + verb order.

So:

• main clause: Kan du ta fram måttbandet ... ?
• subordinate clause: så att vi kan mäta hyllan igen

Inside the subordinate clause:

• vi = subject
• kan = finite verb

This is why it is vi kan, not kan vi.

Compare:

Main clause:

• Vi kan mäta hyllan igen. = We can measure the shelf again.

Question:

• Kan vi mäta hyllan igen? = Can we measure the shelf again?

Subordinate clause:

• ... så att vi kan mäta hyllan igen.

Because mäta is normally a transitive verb in Swedish, just as measure is in English.

So you directly measure the object:

• mäta hyllan = measure the shelf
• mäta bordet = measure the table
• mäta rummet = measure the room

You do not usually need a preposition like på here.

Igen means again.

So: mäta hyllan igen = measure the shelf again

Putting igen at the end is very normal in Swedish. It often comes late in the clause, especially after the object.

Examples:

• Vi måste försöka igen. = We have to try again.
• Kan du säga det igen? = Can you say that again?

Its placement here sounds completely natural.

Hyllan is the definite singular form of en hylla.

The forms are:

• en hylla = a shelf
• hyllan = the shelf
• hyllor = shelves
• hyllorna = the shelves

So mäta hyllan means measure the shelf.

Yes, very much so.

It behaves a lot like an English phrasal verb. The basic unit is ta fram, and the meaning is not always just the sum of ta + fram.

Examples in different forms:

• att ta fram = to get out / bring out
• jag tar fram måttbandet = I get the measuring tape out
• kan du ta fram måttbandet? = can you get the measuring tape out?

So when learning Swedish, it is useful to treat ta fram as one vocabulary item.

Sometimes, yes, but the meaning shifts a little.

• ta fram suggests get out / bring into use
• hämta suggests go and fetch

So:

• Kan du ta fram måttbandet ... ?
  = Can you get the measuring tape out ... ?

• Kan du hämta måttbandet ... ?
  = Can you go get the measuring tape ... ?

If the measuring tape is stored somewhere and someone has to go get it, hämta may work well. If it is already nearby but needs to be taken out from a drawer, box, or toolbox, ta fram is especially natural.

It sounds neutral and natural in everyday spoken Swedish.

It is not very formal, but it is not rude either. It is the kind of sentence you could easily say at home, at work, or while assembling furniture.

If you wanted to sound more formal or especially polite, you could say: Skulle du kunna ta fram måttbandet så att vi kan mäta hyllan igen?

But the original sentence is perfectly normal.

Yes. In casual spoken Swedish, people often pronounce så att very quickly, sometimes almost like one unit.

You may hear something like:

• så vi kan ...
• or a reduced spoken form of så att

But in normal writing, så att is written as two words.

So for learners, the safe written form is: så att

Here are the main forms:

• kunna → kan
  = can / be able to

• ta fram
  = take out / bring out / get out

• ett måttband → måttbandet
  = a measuring tape → the measuring tape

• mäta
  = measure

• en hylla → hyllan
  = a shelf → the shelf

• igen
  = again

This is useful because Swedish often changes nouns by adding endings, while verbs also change form depending on tense and structure.