Hon var på väg att sudda allt, men hennes syster sa att teckningen redan var fin.

Var på väg att literally means was on the way to, but in everyday Swedish it often means was about to or was in the process of getting ready to do something.

So:

• Hon var på väg att sudda allt = She was about to erase everything

It suggests that the action had not quite happened yet, but it was very close.

A few related expressions:

• vara på väg att göra något = be about to do something
• hålla på att göra något = be in the middle of doing something

So var på väg att sudda allt is more like she was about to erase everything, not necessarily she was already erasing everything.

Because att is followed by the infinitive form of the verb.

Here:

• att sudda = to erase

So in var på väg att sudda allt, the structure is:

• var = was
• på väg att = about to
• sudda = erase

You do not use the past tense after att here. Compare:

• Hon suddade allt. = She erased everything.
• Hon var på väg att sudda allt. = She was about to erase everything.

Sudda usually means erase, rub out, or wipe away, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means erase. Since the sentence also mentions teckningen (the drawing), it probably means erasing a drawing, for example with an eraser.

Common related words:

• sudda = erase
• suddgummi = eraser
• sudda ut = erase/remove completely, blur out

So sudda allt means erase everything.

Yes, allt and allting can both mean everything.

In this sentence:

• sudda allt = erase everything

Allt is very common and natural. Allting is also possible, but it can sound a little more emphatic or slightly more conversational depending on context.

So these are both possible:

• Hon var på väg att sudda allt
• Hon var på väg att sudda allting

In many cases, allt is the simpler and more usual choice.

This is a very common question for English speakers.

Swedish uses sin/sitt/sina for reflexive possession, meaning that the possessed thing belongs to the subject of the same clause.

Here the clause is:

• men hennes syster sa ...

The subject of this clause is hennes syster (her sister).

If you said sin syster, it would have to refer back to the subject of that same clause. But the subject is already the sister, so sin syster would not make sense here.

You use hennes because the sister belongs to hon from the earlier part of the sentence:

• Hon ... men hennes syster ...
• She ... but her sister ...

So:

• hennes syster = her sister
• not sin syster, because the possessor is not the subject of that clause

Because Swedish often uses the definite form when talking about a specific thing that is already understood in context.

• teckning = drawing
• teckningen = the drawing

Here, it refers to a specific drawing, the one she was about to erase. So teckningen redan var fin means the drawing was already nice/pretty as it was.

This is very natural in Swedish. Once something is identifiable from the situation, the definite form is often used.

Redan means already.

So:

• teckningen redan var fin = the drawing was already nice

Its position is important because this is a subordinate clause introduced by att:

• ... sa att teckningen redan var fin

In Swedish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs such as redan, inte, alltid, ofta usually come before the finite verb.

So the order is:

• att teckningen redan var fin

not usually:

• att teckningen var redan fin

This word order is one of the classic differences between main clauses and subordinate clauses in Swedish.

Because att here means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

• sa att ... = said that ...

So:

• hennes syster sa att teckningen redan var fin
• her sister said that the drawing was already nice

In English, that is often optional:

• Her sister said the drawing was already nice
• Her sister said that the drawing was already nice

In Swedish, att is very commonly used in this kind of sentence.

Because after att, you are in a subordinate clause, and Swedish subordinate clauses have different word order from main clauses.

Main clause:

• Teckningen var redan fin.

Subordinate clause:

• ... att teckningen redan var fin.

A simple rule learners often use is:

• In main clauses, the finite verb usually comes early, often in second position.
• In subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like redan come before the finite verb.

So:

• att teckningen redan var fin is the normal subordinate-clause order.

This same pattern appears with other adverbs too:

• att hon inte var hemma = that she was not at home
• att de alltid kom sent = that they always arrived late

Fin can mean several things in English depending on context, including:

• nice
• pretty
• beautiful
• fine

In this sentence, since it is about a drawing, fin probably means something like:

• nice
• pretty
• good as it is

So teckningen redan var fin suggests that the sister thought the drawing did not need to be erased or redone.

Swedish fin is often broader than English fine, and in many contexts nice or pretty is a better translation.

Because the whole sentence is narrating something that happened in the past.

• var = past tense of är (is/was)
• sa = past tense of säger (say/said)

So the timeline is:

• She was about to erase everything
• but her sister said the drawing was already nice

This is normal past-time storytelling in Swedish.

Yes, in many contexts that would work.

Var på väg att can often be translated as:

• was about to
• was going to
• was on the verge of

But the best choice depends on nuance:

• was about to = very close to happening
• was going to = planned/intended to, sometimes less immediate

In this sentence, was about to erase everything is probably the best fit, because it sounds like the sister stopped her just in time.

Yes. Men means but.

So the sentence has two contrasting parts:

• Hon var på väg att sudda allt
• men hennes syster sa att teckningen redan var fin

This contrast is important:

• she was about to erase it,
• but her sister reassured her that it was already good.

Not naturally in the places where it appears here.

There are two att words in the sentence, but they do different jobs:

1. på väg att sudda

   • Here att is part of the infinitive construction.
   • You need it.

2. sa att teckningen redan var fin

   • Here att means that and introduces a clause.
   • In some spoken Swedish, this att can sometimes be omitted in certain contexts, but using it is very standard and clear.

So for a learner, the sentence as written is the safest and most natural version.

The sentence has two main parts joined by men:

1. Hon var på väg att sudda allt

   • Hon = subject
   • var = finite verb
   • på väg att sudda allt = expression meaning about to erase everything

2. men hennes syster sa att teckningen redan var fin

   • hennes syster = subject
   • sa = finite verb
   • att teckningen redan var fin = subordinate clause, what the sister said

So the overall pattern is:

• [Main clause], men [main clause + subordinate clause].

This is a very common and useful Swedish sentence structure.