Jag brukar gå och lägga mig tidigt på vardagarna.

Brukar is a very common Swedish verb used to express habit: usually, tend to, normally, or be in the habit of.

So:

• Jag brukar... = I usually...
• Hon brukar komma tidigt. = She usually comes early.

Even though bruka can look like it might mean use, in this structure it does not mean physical use. It functions more like a helper verb showing that something happens regularly.

In this sentence, Jag brukar gå och lägga mig... means I usually go to bed...

Because brukar is the present tense form of the verb bruka.

• att bruka = to usually do / to be in the habit of
• jag brukar = I usually do

Swedish often uses the present tense for general habits, where English might use usually plus a base verb.

So:

• Jag brukar läsa på kvällen. = I usually read in the evening.

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

Literally, gå och lägga mig looks like go and lie myself, but in natural English it simply means go to bed.

The structure often suggests that someone goes off and does something, or it can just be an idiomatic way to express the action.

Examples:

• Jag går och handlar. = I’m going shopping.
• Hon gick och satte sig. = She went and sat down.
• Jag ska gå och lägga mig. = I’m going to go to bed.

So in your sentence, gå och lägga mig is an idiomatic verbal expression, not two completely separate actions in the English sense.

Because lägga sig is a reflexive verb in Swedish.

• lägga = to lay / put something down
• lägga sig = to lie down / go to bed

The reflexive pronoun changes depending on the subject:

• jag lägger mig = I lie down / I go to bed
• du lägger dig = you go to bed
• han lägger sig = he goes to bed
• vi lägger oss = we go to bed

So mig is necessary here because the verb is reflexive.

Because after brukar and after this kind of verbal chain, Swedish uses the infinitive form.

Here the sequence is:

• brukar = finite verb
• gå = infinitive
• lägga = infinitive

So:

• Jag brukar gå och lägga mig...

Not:

• Jag brukar gå och lägger mig... in this meaning

A good way to see it is that brukar controls the rest of the verbal phrase.

No. In this expression, gå och lägga sig simply means go to bed or go lie down. It does not necessarily focus on physically walking.

It is an idiomatic expression, very common in everyday Swedish.

Examples:

• Barnen gick och lade sig tidigt. = The children went to bed early.
• Nu ska jag gå och lägga mig. = I’m going to bed now.

So even if gå literally means go, the whole phrase should usually be learned as one chunk.

Here tidigt is being used adverbially, so it means early.

Compare:

• en tidig kväll = an early evening
  
  • here tidig is an adjective describing a noun
• Jag lägger mig tidigt. = I go to bed early
  
  • here tidigt is an adverb describing the action

In Swedish, many adjectives take -t when used as adverbs:

• snabb → snabbt = quickly
• sen → sent = late
• tidig → tidigt = early

Both can exist, but på vardagarna is very common when you mean on weekdays / on weekdays in general.

• vardag = weekday
• vardagar = weekdays
• vardagarna = the weekdays

In Swedish, the definite plural is often used in general time expressions:

• på morgnarna = in the mornings
• på kvällarna = in the evenings
• på helgerna = on the weekends
• på vardagarna = on weekdays

So even though English often uses no article here, Swedish commonly uses the definite form.

They are related but do different jobs:

• vardag = weekday / everyday life depending on context
• vardagarna = the weekdays
• på vardagarna = on weekdays

Examples:

• Måndag är en vardag. = Monday is a weekday.
• Jag jobbar på vardagarna. = I work on weekdays.

So in your sentence, på vardagarna is a time expression telling you when the action usually happens.

In gå och lägga mig, the reflexive pronoun mig comes directly after the infinitive lägga.

That is the normal placement in this kind of infinitive phrase:

• lägga mig
• sätta sig
• klä på sig

So:

• Jag brukar gå och lägga mig tidigt. is correct.

You generally would not move mig earlier in the sentence in this structure.

Because Swedish infinitives are not always introduced the same way English uses to.

The infinitive marker in Swedish is att, but after many verbs it is not used.

After brukar, you say:

• Jag brukar gå...
• not Jag brukar att gå...

Similarly, in the phrase gå och lägga mig, the verbs appear without att.

Compare:

• Jag vill sova. = I want to sleep.
• Jag brukar läsa. = I usually read.

But in dictionary form, you will often see:

• att gå
• att lägga sig
• att läsa

So att is the infinitive marker, but it is not used after every verb.

Yes, very natural.

It sounds like everyday spoken and written Swedish. A native speaker would easily say this.

You could also hear close variants such as:

• Jag brukar lägga mig tidigt på vardagarna.
• På vardagarna brukar jag gå och lägga mig tidigt.

All of these are natural, though your original sentence is especially straightforward and common.

Yes, absolutely.

• Jag brukar gå och lägga mig tidigt på vardagarna
• Jag brukar lägga mig tidigt på vardagarna

Both are natural.

The version with gå och can feel a little more like go off and do it, while the shorter version is slightly more direct. In many contexts, the difference is small.

So as a learner, you should understand both and feel free to use either.

Yes. Swedish follows the V2 rule in main clauses, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

Your sentence is:

• Jag | brukar | gå och lägga mig tidigt på vardagarna

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

• På vardagarna brukar jag gå och lägga mig tidigt.

Notice that when På vardagarna comes first, brukar still stays in second position, and jag moves after it.

This is a very important Swedish word order pattern.

Yes, that is exactly what it is for.

Jag brukar... describes a habit or typical behavior, not necessarily something happening at this moment.

So this sentence means that going to bed early on weekdays is your normal routine.

If you wanted to talk about right now, you would say something different, for example:

• Jag går och lägger mig nu. = I’m going to bed now.

So brukar is about what usually happens, not what is happening right this second.