I går tog mormor med en stor korg, och i den låg både hallon och blåbär.

In standard Swedish, i går is normally written as two words and means yesterday.

• i = originally in
• går = related to day in an older form

So together they function as one time expression. You may sometimes see igår in informal writing, but i går is the standard form.

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

Here, I går is placed first for time emphasis, so the verb must come next:

• I går tog mormor med en stor korg.

A more neutral order would be:

• Mormor tog med en stor korg i går.

Both are correct, but the original sentence highlights yesterday first.

Mormor specifically means mother’s mother.

Swedish distinguishes between the two grandmothers:

• mormor = maternal grandmother
• farmor = paternal grandmother

English grandma/grandmother does not usually make that distinction.

In Swedish, close family words are often used without an article, especially when they work almost like names or familiar titles.

So mormor can simply mean Grandma in a natural way.

Compare:

• Mormor kom i går. = Grandma came yesterday.
• Min mormor kom i går. = My grandmother came yesterday.

The version without min sounds more personal and natural in many contexts.

Tog med is the past tense of ta med, which means take along or bring.

So:

• ta med = to bring / take along
• tog med = brought / took along

In this sentence, English would most naturally translate it as brought.

Because korg is an en-word (common gender noun), not an ett-word.

So you get:

• en korg = a basket
• en stor korg = a big basket

Compare with a neuter noun:

• ett hus = a house
• ett stort hus = a big house

Notice that the adjective changes too:

• common gender: stor
• neuter: stort

Den refers back to en stor korg.

Since korg is an en-word, the pronoun is den:

• en korg → den
• ett hus → det

So:

• i den = in it / in that one

Here it means in the basket.

This is again the Swedish V2 rule.

The first element in the clause is i den, so the finite verb låg must come second:

• i den låg både hallon och blåbär

The subject comes after the verb here:

• både hallon och blåbär

A more neutral order would be:

• Både hallon och blåbär låg i den.

Both are grammatical, but the original sentence emphasizes the location first: in it...

Swedish often uses position verbs where English simply uses was/were.

Common ones are:

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

Since berries in a basket are thought of as lying there, Swedish naturally says:

• i den låg hallon och blåbär

Using var is possible in some contexts, but låg is more idiomatic and more vivid here.

Både ... och ... means both ... and ....

So:

• både hallon och blåbär = both raspberries and blueberries

It emphasizes that the basket contained the two kinds of berries, not just one.

Because these nouns have the same form in singular and plural.

Examples:

• ett hallon = a raspberry

• hallon = raspberries

• ett blåbär = a blueberry
• blåbär = blueberries

Swedish has several nouns like this. The context tells you whether the meaning is singular or plural.

Here it is clearly plural because of the meaning and the structure både ... och ....

Not always. In Swedish, a comma before och is often omitted, especially in simple sentences.

So this would also be fine:

• I går tog mormor med en stor korg och i den låg både hallon och blåbär.

The comma in the original sentence helps separate the two clauses and can make the sentence easier to read, but it is not strictly required in every style.