Vi tar sista bussen hem ikväll.

Yes — and that is exactly why it is used here.

In Swedish, ta bussen, ta tåget, and ta bilen are very common expressions meaning take the bus, take the train, and take the car.

So:

• Vi tar bussen = We take / we’re taking the bus
• Vi tar sista bussen = We’re taking the last bus

Even though English also says take the bus, learners sometimes expect a verb more like go or ride, but ta is the natural Swedish choice in this kind of sentence.

Because bussen is definite: the bus.

• buss = a bus / bus
• bussen = the bus

Since sista means last, the phrase refers to a specific bus: the last bus.

So:

• sista buss would sound incomplete or unnatural here
• sista bussen = the last bus

That is a very good question, because Swedish often does do that:

• den röda bilen = the red car

But sista is a special case. With words like sista, första, nästa, and some similar expressions, Swedish often leaves out den.

So both patterns exist in Swedish, but here:

• sista bussen is natural and idiomatic

You may also see den sista bussen, which can sound a little more specific or emphatic depending on context, but sista bussen is very common.

Here sista means last in the sense of final.

So sista bussen means:

• the final bus of the evening
• the last bus available

It does not mean latest in the sense of most recent. It means there are no more buses after this one.

Because hem on its own already means homeward / home in this kind of sentence.

In Swedish, motion toward home is often expressed simply with hem:

• gå hem = go home
• åka hem = go home / travel home
• komma hem = come home
• ta bussen hem = take the bus home

So Swedish does not normally say till hem here.

A useful contrast is:

• hemma = at home
• hem = home / to home / homeward

Examples:

• Vi är hemma. = We are at home.
• Vi åker hem. = We’re going home.

Because time expressions are often placed late in the sentence in Swedish, especially in simple main clauses.

So this order is very natural:

• Vi tar sista bussen hem ikväll.

Swedish word order is fairly flexible, and you could move ikväll earlier for emphasis:

• Ikväll tar vi sista bussen hem.

That version puts more focus on tonight.

But the original sentence has a very normal, neutral word order.

Yes. Both spellings occur:

• ikväll
• i kväll

The meaning is the same: tonight.

In modern everyday writing, ikväll is very common, but you may see both forms.

Grammatically, tar is present tense, but the sentence refers to the future.

Swedish often uses the present tense for planned or scheduled future actions, especially when there is a time word like ikväll.

So:

• Vi tar sista bussen hem ikväll.

means something like:

• We’re taking the last bus home tonight
• We take the last bus home tonight

In natural English, We’re taking... is usually the best translation.

Yes, definitely.

You could say:

• Vi ska ta sista bussen hem ikväll.

That also means We’re going to take the last bus home tonight.

The difference is mainly one of style and emphasis:

• Vi tar... sounds natural for a plan or arrangement
• Vi ska ta... can sound a bit more explicitly future or intentional

Both are correct.

Because Swedish main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb comes in the second position.

In this sentence:

• Vi = first element
• tar = finite verb in second position

So:

• Vi tar sista bussen hem ikväll.

If you move another element to the front, the verb still stays second:

• Ikväll tar vi sista bussen hem.

Notice that tar is still second, and the subject vi moves after the verb.

This is one of the most important patterns in Swedish sentence structure.

Not naturally in standard Swedish.

You can say:

• Vi åker hem ikväll. = We’re going home tonight.
• Vi tar sista bussen hem ikväll. = We’re taking the last bus home tonight.

But when you mention the means of transport as the object, Swedish usually prefers ta:

• ta bussen
• ta tåget
• ta taxi

So åker works for the travel itself, but tar works best when you mean take the bus.

Here hem is best understood as an adverb, or more specifically a direction word.

It tells you where to:

• home
• homeward

It is not functioning like a regular noun here.

That is why it behaves differently from a place noun such as skolan or staden, which often need a preposition:

• Vi går till skolan. = We go to school.
• Vi går hem. = We go home.

You would usually put the verb first:

• Tar vi sista bussen hem ikväll?

That means:

• Are we taking the last bus home tonight?

This is another example of normal Swedish word order:

• statement: Vi tar sista bussen hem ikväll.
• yes/no question: Tar vi sista bussen hem ikväll?

Not with the same meaning.

• Vi tar sista bussen hem ikväll = We take the last bus home tonight

Here hem belongs with the idea of going home.

But:

• Vi tar hem sista bussen

would likely sound like we bring home the last bus, which is a completely different meaning, because ta hem can mean bring home, win, or take home.

So word order matters a lot here.

Yes. It sounds very natural and conversational.

It is the kind of sentence Swedish speakers would really say in everyday life when talking about travel plans.

It is neither especially formal nor especially slangy — just normal spoken and written Swedish.