Vi ska sätta upp en tavla i hallen.

Here ska is used to talk about a planned future action or something the speakers are going to do.

So Vi ska sätta upp en tavla i hallen means something like:

• We are going to put up a picture in the hallway
• We will put up a picture in the hallway

In Swedish, ska often covers both will and be going to, depending on context.

After a modal verb like ska, the next verb stays in the infinitive form.

So:

• ska sätta = are going to put
• not ska sätter

This is similar to English:

• we will put
• not we will puts

Other common Swedish modal verbs work the same way:

• kan sätta = can put
• vill sätta = want to put
• måste sätta = must put

After modal verbs such as ska, Swedish normally does not use att.

So you say:

• Vi ska sätta upp en tavla
• not Vi ska att sätta upp en tavla

This is similar to English, where we say:

• We will put up a picture
• not We will to put up a picture

Common modal verbs that also do this include:

• kan
• vill
• måste
• får
• bör

Sätta upp is a very common particle verb. In this sentence it means put up, hang up, or mount something.

So sätta upp en tavla means to put a picture up on the wall.

The basic verb sätta often means put, set, or place, and upp adds the idea of up/up onto something.

A few examples:

• sätta upp en lampa = put up a lamp
• sätta upp en hylla = put up a shelf
• sätta upp en affisch = put up a poster

Because sätta upp is a particle verb, and in Swedish these are often written as two words in their basic form.

So:

• sätta upp
• slå på
• stänga av

This is similar to English phrasal verbs like:

• put up
• turn on
• switch off

In some forms, Swedish particle verbs can look more tightly connected in meaning, but they are still usually written as separate words in normal sentences like this one.

Tavla usually means a picture, painting, or sometimes a framed picture on a wall.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• a painting
• a decorative picture
• a framed artwork

So in this sentence, en tavla is most naturally a picture / painting that you hang on the wall.

It does not usually mean a photograph specifically; for that, Swedish often uses foto or fotografi, depending on context.

Tavla is a common-gender noun in Swedish, so its indefinite article is en.

• en tavla = a picture
• tavlan = the picture

This is just something you learn with each noun in Swedish: nouns take either en or ett.

For example:

• en tavla
• en stol
• ett bord
• ett hus

So here en tavla means a picture, not a specific one already known to the listener.

Hallen is the definite form of hall:

• en hall = a hall / a hallway
• hallen = the hall / the hallway

In this sentence, i hallen means in the hallway. Swedish often uses the definite form when referring to a specific room in a home that both speakers understand.

So if you are talking about the hallway in the house/apartment, i hallen sounds natural.

If you said i en hall, it would sound more like in a hallway in a general, non-specific sense.

In Swedish, the definite article is often attached as an ending instead of being a separate word like English the.

So:

• en hall = a hallway
• hallen = the hallway

This is one of the most important differences from English.

A few more examples:

• en bok → boken = the book
• ett hus → huset = the house
• en tavla → tavlan = the picture

So i hallen literally looks like in hallway-the, but in natural English it is just in the hallway.

This is standard Swedish main-clause word order:

• Vi = subject
• ska = finite verb
• sätta upp = infinitive verb phrase
• en tavla = object
• i hallen = place expression

So the structure is roughly:

Subject + finite verb + infinitive + object + place

This is very normal after a modal verb like ska.

If you start with another element, Swedish usually keeps the finite verb in second position. For example:

• I hallen ska vi sätta upp en tavla.

That is also correct, but now the sentence starts with the place phrase, so ska still has to come second.

Yes, very often you can.

• sätta upp en tavla
• hänga upp en tavla

Both can mean put up / hang up a picture.

The difference is slight:

• hänga upp focuses more on the act of hanging
• sätta upp is a bit broader and can mean put up / mount / install

With a picture on a wall, both are common and natural.

No. Swedish verbs do not change according to the subject the way English verbs sometimes do.

So:

• jag ska
• du ska
• vi ska
• de ska

The form ska stays the same.

Likewise with sätta after the modal:

• jag ska sätta
• hon ska sätta
• vi ska sätta

This is good news for learners: Swedish verb conjugation is much simpler than English in this way.

Sätta is pronounced roughly like SET-ta, with a short first vowel.

The double consonant tt helps show that the vowel before it is short. This is a common spelling pattern in Swedish.

So compare:

• sätta with a short ä
• a single consonant after a vowel often suggests a longer vowel

You do not need to pronounce both t sounds separately in an exaggerated way, but the spelling tells you about the vowel length.

Also, ä is not the same as English a. It is closer to the vowel in bed or get, though not exactly the same.