Vi hade ett kort strömavbrott i går, men strömmen kom tillbaka efter tio minuter.

Hade is the past tense of ha, meaning to have.

In this sentence, Vi hade ett kort strömavbrott literally means We had a short power outage. Swedish often uses ha in the same kind of way English does here: you have an outage, a problem, a meeting, a break, and so on.

So hade is not strange here—it is the normal verb choice.

Because strömavbrott is an ett-word (a neuter noun), not an en-word.

That affects both the article and the adjective:

• ett = the article for neuter nouns
• kort = the adjective kort with the -t ending used for an ett-word

So:

• ett strömavbrott = a power outage
• ett kort strömavbrott = a short power outage

If the noun were an en-word, you would normally get en plus the base adjective form instead.

Strömavbrott is a compound noun:

• ström = electricity / power / current
• avbrott = interruption / break

So strömavbrott literally means something like power interruption, which in natural English is usually power outage, power cut, or blackout depending on context.

Swedish makes compounds very freely, so it is common to see long words like this.

Strömmen is the definite form, meaning the power or the electricity.

The sentence first introduces the situation with ett kort strömavbrott. In the next clause, it refers back to that same power supply, so Swedish uses the definite form:

• ström = power / electricity
• strömmen = the power / the electricity

So strömmen kom tillbaka means the power came back.

This is very natural in Swedish, just as English would usually say the power came back, not simply power came back.

Kom tillbaka literally means came back or returned.

Here it is used about the electricity:

• strömmen kom tillbaka = the power came back

This is a very common Swedish particle-verb pattern:

• kom = came
• tillbaka = back

Together they act like a single idea: return / come back.

You will see many similar verb + particle combinations in Swedish.

Because efter and om are used differently.

• efter tio minuter = after ten minutes
• om tio minuter = in ten minutes (from now)

In this sentence, the outage happened in the past, and the power returned ten minutes later. That is why efter is correct:

• strömmen kom tillbaka efter tio minuter = the power came back after ten minutes

If you said om tio minuter, it would sound like you are talking about a future point from now, not about elapsed time in a past event.

Yes—both i går and igår are used.

The two-word spelling i går is very common and often felt to be slightly more traditional or careful in writing. The one-word form igår is also widely used and accepted in modern Swedish.

So a learner should recognize both:

• i går = yesterday
• igår = yesterday

The meaning is the same.

Because men is a coordinating conjunction, like but in English. After men, Swedish usually starts a normal main clause.

Normal main clause order here is:

• strömmen = subject
• kom = verb
• tillbaka = particle/adverb

So:

• ..., men strömmen kom tillbaka ...

There is no inversion here because nothing has been moved to the front of that clause.

Compare:

• Strömmen kom tillbaka efter tio minuter.
• Efter tio minuter kom strömmen tillbaka.

In the second version, Efter tio minuter is placed first, so the verb comes before the subject, which is the normal Swedish V2 pattern.

Because this is a completed event in the past, and the sentence includes a clear past-time expression: i går.

In Swedish, the simple past is very natural when you talk about something finished at a specific time in the past:

• Vi hade ... i går
• strömmen kom tillbaka ...

That is one reason the simple past is preferred here.

Very roughly:

• preterite/simple past often fits completed past events, especially with a specific time like i går
• present perfect is more often used when the connection to the present matters more and no specific past time is given

Not necessarily. Here kort means brief or short in duration.

So ett kort strömavbrott means:

• a brief power outage
• a short power outage

This is the same adjective kort that can also mean physically short, but in this sentence it refers to time.

Yes, absolutely. That is a very common alternative.

Both are natural:

• Vi hade ett kort strömavbrott i går ...
• I går hade vi ett kort strömavbrott ...

The difference is mainly focus:

• Vi hade ... i går puts the time later in the sentence
• I går hade vi ... puts emphasis on yesterday

Notice the word order change when I går comes first:

• I går hade vi ...

The verb hade must come before the subject vi because Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule.

Not always. Ström can mean different but related things depending on context, such as:

• electricity
• power
• current
• sometimes even flow or stream in other contexts

In this sentence, because we are talking about an outage and the power returning, power or electricity is the best translation.

So:

• strömavbrott = power outage
• strömmen kom tillbaka = the power came back