Breakdown of Kan vi gå in nu?
Gå is to move on your own legs — to walk. It is not the all-purpose English to go. Jag går till skolan means you walk the whole way there.
When a vehicle takes you, Swedish switches verb: åka if you are being carried (Jag åker buss till jobbet) and köra if you are the one driving (Jag kör bilen själv). Both come later in this course.
Gå also means to leave (Kom ihåg att låsa dörren när du går), and with timetables, machines and abstract things it means to run or to turn out: Bussen går om två minuter, Tiden går fort, Om allt går bra.
Questions & Answers about Kan vi gå in nu?
- kan = can / are able to / may
- vi = we
- gå = go / walk
- in = in / inside
- nu = now
So the whole sentence means Can we go in now?
Because this is a yes/no question.
In Swedish, yes/no questions are usually made by putting the verb first:
- Vi kan gå in nu. = We can go in now.
- Kan vi gå in nu? = Can we go in now?
This is similar to English word order in questions, where can comes before we.
Swedish does not use a helper like do to make questions.
In English, you often need do:
- Do we go in now?
But with verbs like can, English also inverts directly:
- Can we go in now?
Swedish works more directly: move the verb to the front:
- Kan vi gå in nu?
So there is no extra word needed.