Vi hängde de våta kläderna på torkställningen i stället för att använda torktumlaren.

Hängde is the past tense of hänga (to hang).

So:

• vi hänger = we hang / we are hanging
• vi hängde = we hung
• vi har hängt = we have hung

In this sentence, the action is presented as a finished event in the past, so hängde is the natural choice.

This is because Swedish is marking definiteness in more than one place.

Break it down:

• de = the (plural definite article)
• våta = wet in the form used before a definite plural noun
• kläderna = the clothes

So literally, Swedish has something like:

• de våta kläderna = the wet clothes

This is very common in Swedish. When there is an adjective before a definite noun, Swedish usually uses:

• a definite article (de)
• the adjective in its definite form
• the noun in its definite form

Compare:

• våta kläder = wet clothes
• de våta kläderna = the wet clothes

Because kläder is an irregular plural.

The word is:

• ett klädesplagg = a garment, but that is not the everyday word here
• ett plagg = a garment
• kläder = clothes

In practice, kläder is the normal word for clothes, and it behaves a bit like a plural-only idea in everyday use.

Here:

• kläder = clothes
• kläderna = the clothes

So this is just a vocabulary item worth learning as a whole:

• kläder
• kläderna

It is spelled the same, but here de is not the subject pronoun they.

In this sentence, de is the plural definite article, meaning the.

So:

• de hängde kläderna = they hung the clothes → here de = they
• de våta kläderna = the wet clothes → here de = the

You understand which one it is from the sentence structure.

Also, in modern spoken Swedish, both de and dem are often pronounced dom, but in writing the distinction is usually kept.

Swedish commonly uses på with things that you put something on, onto, or onto the surface/frame of.

A torkställning is a drying rack, so clothes are hung on it:

• på torkställningen = on the drying rack

This matches English pretty well here.

You will often see på with things like:

• på bordet = on the table
• på väggen = on the wall
• på stolen = on the chair

So på torkställningen is the expected preposition.

It is a compound noun:

• tork = drying / dry
• ställning = stand, rack, frame

So:

• torkställning = drying rack
• torkställningen = the drying rack

Swedish makes compounds very freely, so long nouns like this are extremely common.

A useful related word in the same sentence is:

• torktumlare = tumble dryer
• torktumlaren = the tumble dryer

This is the Swedish way to say instead of using.

The full structure is:

• i stället för att + infinitive

So:

• i stället för att använda torktumlaren = instead of using the tumble dryer

Examples:

• Jag gick i stället för att ta bussen. = I walked instead of taking the bus.
• Hon lagade mat i stället för att beställa. = She cooked instead of ordering.

So if English uses instead of + -ing form, Swedish often uses:

• i stället för att + infinitive

Yes. Both forms are used:

• i stället
• istället

Both mean instead.

In careful modern writing, i stället is often preferred by many writers and style guides, but istället is also very common and accepted.

So a learner should recognize both.

The -en makes the noun definite:

• en torktumlare = a tumble dryer
• torktumlaren = the tumble dryer

In this sentence, it refers to the dryer as a known, specific thing in the situation, so the definite form is natural.

This is very common in Swedish, just as in English:

• att använda torktumlaren = to use the tumble dryer / the dryer

Hänga is exactly the normal verb here.

• hänga kläderna = hang the clothes
• hänga upp kläderna = hang up the clothes

If you want to emphasize the idea of putting them up, Swedish often adds upp:

• Vi hängde upp de våta kläderna på torkställningen.

That sounds very natural too.

Without upp, the sentence is still completely correct. It just focuses on the hanging action without stressing the up part.

Yes, it tells you where the clothes were hung.

The core sentence is:

• Vi hängde de våta kläderna = We hung the wet clothes

Then Swedish adds:

• på torkställningen = on the drying rack
• i stället för att använda torktumlaren = instead of using the tumble dryer

So the sentence is built like this:

• Vi = subject
• hängde = verb
• de våta kläderna = object
• på torkställningen = place/location
• i stället för att använda torktumlaren = reason/alternative choice

Yes. The original sentence is correct and natural, but in everyday speech you might also hear:

• Vi hängde upp de våta kläderna på torkställningen i stället för att använda torktumlaren.
• Vi hängde de våta kläderna på tork i stället för att använda torktumlaren.

The second version uses the expression:

• hänga något på tork = hang something out/to dry

So that version means roughly:

• We hung the wet clothes up to dry instead of using the tumble dryer.

All of these are good Swedish; they just differ slightly in style and emphasis.