Vem som än ringer mig under mötet, svarar jag inte.

Whoever calls me during the meeting, I do not answer.

Breakdown of Vem som än ringer mig under mötet, svarar jag inte.

• jag: I
• inte: not
• ringa: to call
• mig: me

Questions & Answers about Vem som än ringer mig under mötet, svarar jag inte.

What does vem som än mean?

It means whoever or no matter who.

So Vem som än ringer mig under mötet means something like whoever calls me during the meeting / no matter who calls me during the meeting.

This is a common Swedish pattern for expressing it doesn’t matter who / what / where / when.

Why are both som and än used? Why not just vem än?

In this construction, Swedish normally uses the pattern:

question word + som + än

So:

• vem som än = whoever
• vad som än = whatever
• var som än = wherever
• när som än = whenever

Here, som is part of the fixed structure, and än adds the sense of no matter / ever.

So you should learn vem som än as a unit.

Why is ringer in the present tense if the meaning can be future?