Så länge strömmen är borta, sitter vi i vardagsrummet och pratar.

Here så länge means as long as or while.

In this sentence, it introduces a time condition:

• Så länge strömmen är borta = As long as the power is out

A helpful distinction:

• så länge = as long as / while
• länge by itself = for a long time

So så länge is not about duration by itself; it links the situation to another period of time.

Strömmen is the definite singular form of ström.

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

In this sentence, Swedish uses the definite form because it means the power in a general, understood sense — the household electricity supply.

This is very common in Swedish:

• boken = the book
• bilen = the car
• strömmen = the power

So the -en ending is the Swedish way of saying the.

Yes, ström can mean different things depending on context, including:

• current
• flow
• electricity / power
• sometimes even stream

In strömmen är borta, the natural meaning is the power is out, because that is a very common expression.

So context tells you the meaning. In a sentence about sitting in the living room because something is borta, strömmen is understood as the electricity / power supply, not a stream of water.

Yes, literally är borta means is away / is gone, but in Swedish it is a very normal way to say that something is not available or missing.

So:

• strömmen är borta = the power is out
• literally: the power is gone

You will see borta in many similar expressions:

• Nycklarna är borta. = The keys are gone.
• Internet är borta. = The internet is down/gone.

So this is idiomatic Swedish, not a word-for-word match with English.

This is because Swedish follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb must come in the second position.

The sentence begins with a subordinate clause:

• Så länge strömmen är borta = introductory clause

Then the main clause starts, and the verb comes first:

• sitter vi i vardagsrummet och pratar

So the order is:

1. introductory element
2. finite verb
3. subject

That gives:

• Så länge strömmen är borta, sitter vi...

If you start directly with the subject, then you get:

• Vi sitter i vardagsrummet och pratar.

Both are correct, but once the time clause comes first, inversion happens in the main clause.

Because that part is a subordinate clause, and Swedish word order there is different from main-clause word order.

Inside the subordinate clause, the normal pattern is:

• conjunction
• subject
• verb

So:

• så länge = conjunction
• strömmen = subject
• är = verb
• borta = complement

That is why it is så länge strömmen är borta, not så länge är strömmen borta.

Swedish often uses position verbs much more than English does. The most common are:

• sitta = sit
• stå = stand
• ligga = lie
• hänga = hang

So sitter vi i vardagsrummet och pratar literally means:

• we are sitting in the living room and talking

In English, you might simply say we’re in the living room talking, but Swedish often prefers to mention the physical position.

It sounds natural in Swedish and gives a slightly more vivid picture.

Swedish often uses this structure to describe what someone is doing while in a certain position.

• sitter tells you the position
• pratar tells you the activity

So:

• sitter och pratar = sit and talk / are sitting and talking

This is a very common pattern:

• Hon sitter och läser. = She is sitting and reading.
• Barnen ligger och sover. = The children are lying and sleeping.
• Han står och väntar. = He is standing and waiting.

English also can do this, but Swedish uses it especially often.

Yes. Swedish present tense can cover several meanings that English often separates.

• sitter = sit / are sitting
• pratar = talk / are talking

So this sentence can mean something like:

• As long as the power is out, we sit in the living room and talk.
• While the power is out, we’re sitting in the living room and talking.

The exact English translation depends on context. Swedish does not require a special progressive form like are sitting or are talking.

Because Swedish usually uses the definite form when talking about a specific, known room in a house.

• ett vardagsrum = a living room
• vardagsrummet = the living room

So:

• i vardagsrummet = in the living room

Here it means the living room that the speakers have in mind — probably their own or a specific one already understood from context.

The comma is natural and helpful here, but Swedish comma usage is often less strict than English comma usage.

With an introductory subordinate clause like this, many writers do use a comma:

• Så länge strömmen är borta, sitter vi i vardagsrummet och pratar.

You may also see sentences without the comma in less formal writing. But using the comma here is clear and perfectly normal.

Sometimes, but not always, and the nuance changes.

• så länge = as long as / for the period that
• medan = while

In this sentence, så länge emphasizes that the situation continues for the whole time that the power is out.

• Så länge strömmen är borta... = For as long as the power is out...

If you used medan, it would sound more like simple simultaneity:

• Medan strömmen är borta... = While the power is out...

Both can work, but så länge is a very good choice if the idea is during the entire period of the outage.