Farbrodern sa att han skulle ta med en korg med melon och kex.

Swedish very often builds compounds as a single word. So farbroder is one noun, not two separate words.

The ending -n is the definite article attached to the noun. So:

• farbroder = a paternal uncle / father’s brother
• farbrodern = the paternal uncle / the father’s brother

Swedish usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

They are closely related forms. Farbroder is a more formal or old-fashioned variant, while farbror is the more usual everyday word in modern Swedish.

So this sentence sounds a bit more formal or literary with farbrodern than it would with farbrorn.

Both sa and sade are past-tense forms of säga.

• sa = said
• sade = said

Sa is very common and natural, especially in everyday language. Sade can sound slightly fuller or a bit more formal, but both are standard.

Att introduces a subordinate clause, just like that in English:

• Han sa att... = He said that...

In English, that is often omitted. In Swedish, att is usually kept in this kind of sentence.

Because att starts a subordinate clause. In Swedish subordinate clauses, the subject normally comes before the finite verb:

• att han skulle ta med...

That is different from main-clause word order, where Swedish often follows the verb-second rule.

A useful comparison:

• Main clause: Han skulle ta med en korg.
• Subordinate clause: ...att han skulle ta med en korg.

In this example the order looks the same, but if you add a sentence adverb, the difference becomes clearer:

• Main clause: Han skulle inte ta med en korg.
• Subordinate clause: ...att han inte skulle ta med en korg.

Here skulle is not mainly a conditional like English would in sentences such as I would go if I could. Instead, it shows future from a past point of view or reported intention.

A likely direct version would be something like:

• Jag ska ta med en korg... = I’m going to bring a basket...

When that is reported after a past-tense verb like sa, Swedish often shifts it to:

• han skulle ta med...

So it means something like he said he would / was going to bring...

Yes. Ta med is a very common verb + particle combination, and it is best learned as a unit.

• ta med = bring / take along

So even though ta by itself means take, ta med has the more specific meaning bring along or take with you.

Some common forms are:

• tar med = brings / is bringing along
• tog med = brought along
• ta med = bring / to bring along

Because the two instances of med do different jobs.

1. In ta med, med is part of the verb expression:

   • ta med = bring / take along

2. In en korg med melon och kex, med is an ordinary preposition:

   • a basket with melon and crackers/biscuits

So the first med belongs to the verb, and the second med describes the contents of the basket.

Because korg is being counted as one item, so it takes the indefinite article:

• en korg = a basket

But melon and kex are presented more as contents or food items in a general sense, not as individually counted objects. Swedish often leaves out the article in that situation, especially with food.

So med melon och kex is natural for with melon and crackers/biscuits.

If you wanted to be more specific about quantity, you could say something like:

• med en melon och några kex
• med en melon och några kexsorter

But the original sentence is perfectly normal as it stands.

On its own, kex can be a little flexible in meaning.

The noun kex has the same form in singular and plural:

• ett kex = a cracker / biscuit
• flera kex = several crackers / biscuits

In this sentence, because there is no article or number word, kex is best understood as an unspecified amount or general category: some crackers/biscuits.

Not absolutely. In this sentence by itself, han is grammatically ambiguous.

The most natural interpretation is that han refers to farbrodern, because that is the only male person mentioned. But context could make it refer to someone else.

So in isolation, the sentence can mean either:

• the uncle said that he himself would bring the basket
• the uncle said that another male person would bring the basket

If Swedish writers want to avoid that ambiguity, they often repeat the noun or rephrase the sentence.

Sometimes spoken Swedish may drop att, but after sa it is very common and usually clearer to keep it.

So:

• Farbrodern sa att han skulle ta med...

is the normal and safe version.

A learner should generally keep att in sentences like this unless they have a strong feel for informal spoken style.