Breakdown of Det jag vill göra nästa gång är att breda smörgåsar hemma och ta med dem i en korg.
Questions & Answers about Det jag vill göra nästa gång är att breda smörgåsar hemma och ta med dem i en korg.
Why does the sentence start with Det?
Here det is part of a structure used to highlight what the thing is:
Det jag vill göra nästa gång är att ...
A natural English translation is What I want to do next time is to ...
So det does not mean a specific it here. It helps build a sentence pattern that is similar to what I want to do is ... in English.
A more direct version would be:
Nästa gång vill jag breda smörgåsar hemma och ta med dem i en korg.
That version is less framed and more straightforward.
Why is it jag vill and not vill jag?
Because jag vill göra nästa gång is part of a subordinate/relative clause after det.
In Swedish:
- in a main clause, you often get inversion after something is placed first
- in a subordinate clause, the subject normally comes before the finite verb
So:
- Jag vill ... = correct here
- Vill jag ... would not fit this structure
That is why Swedish says:
Det jag vill göra nästa gång ...
not
Det vill jag göra nästa gång ...
Those mean different things.
Why is it nästa gång and not i nästa gång or nästa gången?
Swedish often uses time expressions like this without a preposition and without the definite ending.
So you say:
- nästa gång = next time
- nästa vecka = next week
- nästa år = next year
Not:
- i nästa gång
- nästa gången in this meaning
So nästa gång is just the normal idiomatic way to say next time.
Why does the sentence use är att?
This is a very common pattern in Swedish:
Det jag vill göra ... är att + infinitive
It means something like:
What I want to do is to ...
After är, Swedish often uses an infinitive clause with att in this kind of sentence. Here, att introduces what the speaker wants to do.
So:
- är att breda smörgåsar ... = is to make/spread sandwiches ...
Leaving out att here would sound wrong.
Why is there no second att before ta?
Because breda smörgåsar and ta med dem i en korg are two infinitives joined by och, and they both belong to the same att.
So:
är att breda smörgåsar hemma och ta med dem i en korg
means:
is to make sandwiches at home and bring them in a basket
Swedish usually does not repeat att before the second infinitive when both verbs are part of the same structure.
What does breda smörgåsar mean exactly?
Here breda smörgåsar means to prepare sandwiches by spreading butter and/or toppings on bread.
The verb is connected with spreading something onto bread. So it is a little more specific than simply make sandwiches.
Depending on style or dialect, Swedish speakers might also say things like:
- göra smörgåsar = make sandwiches
- bre smörgåsar = spread/make sandwiches
- göra mackor = make sandwiches, more informal
In this sentence, breda suggests the actual preparation of the sandwiches.
Does smörgås mean the same thing as sandwich?
Often yes, but not always in exactly the same cultural sense.
A smörgås in Swedish can be:
- an open-faced sandwich
- a slice of bread with butter and toppings
- sometimes a more general sandwich, depending on context
So when English says sandwich, Swedish smörgås may sometimes feel more like an open sandwich than the typical two-slices-of-bread sandwich.
In everyday use, though, translating smörgåsar as sandwiches is often perfectly fine.
What does hemma mean here, and how is it different from hem?
Hemma means at home. It describes location.
So:
- hemma = at home
- hem = home, toward home
Examples:
- Jag är hemma. = I am at home.
- Jag går hem. = I am going home.
In your sentence, hemma is used because the sandwiches are being prepared at home, not moved toward home.
How does ta med work, and why not ta dem med?
Ta med is a fixed verb expression meaning take along or bring.
So:
- ta med dem = bring them / take them along
The normal word order is ta med + object:
- ta med dem
- ta med smörgåsarna
Ta dem med sounds unnatural in normal modern Swedish.
So it is best to learn ta med as a unit.
Why is it dem and not de?
Because dem is the object form, like English them.
Here dem refers back to smörgåsar:
- smörgåsar = sandwiches
- ta med dem = take/bring them along
Compare:
- de = they
- dem = them
In spoken Swedish, many people pronounce both as dom, but in standard writing the distinction is still usually:
- de for subject
- dem for object
Why is it en korg and not ett korg?
Because korg is an en-word in Swedish.
So:
- en korg = a basket
- korgen = the basket
If it were an ett-word, it would be ett, but korg is not one of those nouns.
Why does it say i en korg?
I means in. So i en korg means in a basket.
That is the normal preposition if the sandwiches are placed inside the basket.
So the phrase means the speaker wants to prepare the sandwiches at home and then bring them along in a basket.
Is this sentence natural Swedish, or is there a simpler way to say it?
It is understandable and basically natural, but it has a slightly framed, written feel because of the structure:
Det jag vill göra nästa gång är att ...
A simpler and more direct version would be:
Nästa gång vill jag breda smörgåsar hemma och ta med dem i en korg.
You might also hear more everyday versions such as:
- Nästa gång vill jag göra smörgåsar hemma och ta med dem i en korg.
- Nästa gång vill jag göra mackor hemma och ta med dem i en korg.
So the original sentence is fine, but it is a bit more structured than the most casual way of saying it.
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