Jag måste hänga tvätten på torkställningen innan jag går och lägger mig.

Because måste is a modal verb, and Swedish modal verbs are normally followed by the infinitive without att.

So:

• jag måste hänga = I must hang
• jag kan simma = I can swim
• jag vill sova = I want to sleep

This is similar to English, where you say must hang, not must to hang.

Tvätten is the definite form, meaning the washing / the laundry.

• tvätt = washing, laundry in a general sense
• tvätten = the laundry, the washing

In this sentence, the speaker means a specific load of laundry, so tvätten sounds natural.

Here, hänga means to hang up or to put up to dry.

On its own, hänga can mean hang in a general sense. In laundry contexts, Swedish often uses just hänga where English would often say hang up.

So hänga tvätten means hang the laundry up.

På torkställningen means on the drying rack.

Breakdown:

• på = on
• torkställning = drying rack
• torkställningen = the drying rack

Swedish often uses på with things that are physically placed on a surface or structure, and a drying rack is thought of that way.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Swedish.

It is made up of:

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

Together:

• torkställning = drying rack
• torkställningen = the drying rack

Swedish forms many everyday nouns this way, so learning to spot the parts is very useful.

Because innan introduces a subordinate clause.

In Swedish subordinate clauses, the subject usually comes before the verb:

• innan jag går
• när jag kommer
• eftersom jag är trött

So innan jag går och lägger mig follows normal subordinate clause word order.

This is a very common Swedish pattern: gå och + verb.

It often describes going somewhere and then doing something, or beginning an action. In this sentence:

• gå och lägga sig = go and lie down = go to bed

So jag går och lägger mig is a very natural way to say I’m going to bed.

It comes from the verb lägga sig, which means to lie down or to go to bed.

Breakdown:

• lägga = lay, put
• lägga sig = lie down / go to bed
• mig = myself, me

So:

• jag lägger mig = I lie down / I go to bed

In this sentence, it clearly means go to bed.

Because lägga sig is a reflexive verb in Swedish.

That means the action is done to oneself:

• jag lägger mig = I lie down
• du lägger dig = you lie down
• han lägger sig = he lies down

The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject. English often does not use a reflexive pronoun in the same way here, so this can feel unusual to English speakers.

Yes, absolutely.

• innan jag går och lägger mig = before I go to bed
• innan jag lägger mig = before I lie down / before I go to bed

Both are natural. The version with går och is a bit more idiomatic and often feels a little more like everyday spoken Swedish.

Swedish often uses the present tense for future meaning when the context makes the time clear.

Here, innan and the whole situation show that this is about something that will happen later.

So even though the form is present tense, the meaning is future-related:

• innan jag går och lägger mig = before I go to bed

This is similar to English in sentences like before I go to bed.

No, in normal Swedish you need the subject in both clauses.

So:

• Jag måste hänga tvätten ...
• ... innan jag går och lägger mig

The second jag is needed because innan jag går och lägger mig is its own clause.

English works the same way here: I have to hang the laundry before I go to bed.

Not always. It often means must or have to, depending on context.

In everyday English, have to often sounds more natural than must, even when Swedish uses måste.

So this sentence could match either:

• I must hang the laundry before I go to bed
• I have to hang the laundry before I go to bed

Both are good translations.

Yes, it sounds natural.

It uses very normal everyday structures:

• jag måste for obligation
• hänga tvätten for dealing with laundry
• på torkställningen for putting it on the drying rack
• innan jag går och lägger mig for before I go to bed

A native speaker might also say similar alternatives, such as using tvättställning in some regions or phrasing the bedtime part a little differently, but the sentence you have is completely normal Swedish.