Hunden äter sin mat nu.

In Swedish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

• hund = dog
• hunden = the dog

So instead of saying a separate word like English the dog, Swedish often says hunden.

A very common pattern is:

• en hund = a dog
• hunden = the dog

Here, -en is the definite ending.

Äter is the present tense of the verb äta = to eat.

• äta = to eat
• äter = eat / eats / is eating

In this sentence, äter is the finite verb, and it matches the subject hunden.

One important thing for English speakers: Swedish does not usually have a separate progressive form like is eating. The plain present tense often covers both:

• The dog eats its food now
• The dog is eating its food now

The word nu helps make the ongoing right now meaning clear.

Because sin is a reflexive possessive. It is used when the owner is the same as the subject of the sentence.

In Hunden äter sin mat nu, the subject is hunden, and the food belongs to that same dog. So Swedish uses sin.

Compare:

• Hunden äter sin mat nu.
  = The dog is eating its own food now.

• Hunden äter hans mat nu.
  = The dog is eating his food now.
  (someone else’s food, not the dog’s own)

This is one of the most important Swedish grammar points for English speakers.

Because sin/sitt/sina must agree with the noun being possessed, not with the owner.

Here, the possessed noun is mat, and in this sentence it is treated as a singular common-gender noun, so Swedish uses sin.

The pattern is:

• sin
  • singular common gender
• sitt
  • singular neuter
• sina
  • plural

Examples:

• sin mat = his/her/its own food
• sitt ben = his/her/its own leg / bone
• sina saker = his/her/its own things

So sin is correct because of mat.

Because Swedish normally does not use an article together with a possessive like sin, min, din, and so on.

So you say:

• sin mat
• min bok
• hans bil

not:

• sin maten
• min boken
• hans bilen

Also, mat often works like an uncountable noun, similar to English food, so it commonly appears without an article anyway.

That is a very natural position for nu in Swedish.

The basic structure here is:

• subject: Hunden
• verb: äter
• object: sin mat
• time adverb: nu

So:

• Hunden äter sin mat nu.

This sounds neutral and natural.

You can also move nu around a bit, depending on style or emphasis. For example:

• Hunden äter nu sin mat.

That is also possible, though ...sin mat nu often sounds more straightforward in everyday speech.

Yes. That is a completely normal Swedish sentence.

When Swedish starts a main clause with something other than the subject, the finite verb still has to come in second position. This is the famous V2 rule.

So:

• Hunden äter sin mat nu.
• Nu äter hunden sin mat.

Both are correct.

Notice that when nu comes first, the subject hunden moves after the verb:

• Nu äter hunden ... not
• Nu hunden äter ...

It can mean either, depending on context, because Swedish present tense often covers both ideas.

So äter can correspond to:

• eats
• is eating

In this specific sentence, nu strongly suggests an action happening right now, so English would usually translate it as:

• The dog is eating its food now.

Without nu, the sentence could sound more general:

• Hunden äter sin mat.
  = The dog eats its food / The dog is eating its food

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• Hunden ≈ HOON-den
• äter ≈ EH-ter
• sin ≈ seen
• mat ≈ maht
• nu ≈ nyoo with rounded lips

A few important notes:

• ä in äter is somewhat like the e in bed, but not exactly.
• u in nu has no exact English equivalent; it is said with the tongue forward and the lips rounded.
• Swedish pronunciation is not always easy to represent with English spelling, so listening to native audio is very helpful.

Mat usually means food in a general sense.

In many contexts, though, it can also refer to food as something being eaten in a particular situation, so English may sometimes translate it more naturally as meal or food depending on context.

In this sentence, sin mat most naturally means its food.

So a learner should usually remember:

• mat = food

and then let context decide whether English might prefer food, meal, or something similar.