Vad har ni för planer efter jobbet i dag?

Because Swedish often uses the pattern vad ... för + noun when asking what kind of something someone has.

So vad har ni för planer? is literally something like what do you have for plans?, but in natural English it means what plans do you have? or what kind of plans do you have?

Without för, vad har ni planer would sound wrong in Swedish.

Here för is part of the fixed question pattern vad ... för. In this structure, it does not mean the usual English for.

Compare:

• Vad är det för bok? = What kind of book is it?
• Vad har ni för planer? = What plans do you have? / What kind of plans do you have?

So it is best to learn vad ... för as one unit.

Swedish direct questions usually put the finite verb before the subject, unless the question word itself is the subject.

Here:

• vad = question word
• har = finite verb
• ni = subject

So the order is:

Vad har ni ...?

This is normal Swedish question word order. English learners sometimes expect something more like What you have...?, but Swedish works more like What have you...? in structure, though the English translation is different.

Because Swedish does not use do-support the way English does.

In English, we say:

• What do you have...?

In Swedish, the main verb itself forms the question:

• Vad har ni ...?

So har does the job on its own. There is no extra helper verb equivalent to English do in this kind of sentence.

Ni means you when speaking to more than one person.

So this sentence is addressed to a group, not just one person.

Compare:

• du = you, singular
• ni = you, plural

A singular version would be:

• Vad har du för planer efter jobbet i dag?

Also, ni can sometimes be used formally to one person, but in modern Swedish it is mainly just plural you.

Planer is the plural of plan.

In this sentence, Swedish is asking generally about someone’s plans, so no article is needed. English works similarly:

• What plans do you have...?

not usually

• What the plans do you have...?

After vad ... för, the noun often appears without an article:

• Vad är det för film?
• Vad har du för idéer?
• Vad köpte ni för bil?

So planer here is just the normal indefinite plural form.

Because Swedish normally says efter jobbet for after work in this everyday sense.

Literally, jobbet is the job / the work, but in this expression it often corresponds to English work without sounding overly specific.

This is very common in Swedish with time-related expressions:

• efter jobbet = after work
• före skolan = before school
• efter maten = after the meal / after food, often just after eating

So even though English says after work without the, Swedish often uses the definite form.

Yes, but the tone changes.

• efter jobbet is the most natural everyday phrasing in conversation.
• efter arbetet sounds more formal, more written, or less conversational.

Both are understandable, but jobbet is what you are most likely to hear in ordinary speech.

Both spellings exist.

• i dag is the traditional two-word spelling.
• idag is also very common and accepted in modern Swedish.

So you may see either:

• i dag
• idag

They mean exactly the same thing: today.

Usually it asks in a fairly open, natural way about what someone is planning to do later that day.

So it can cover anything from firm arrangements to vague ideas:

• meeting friends
• going to the gym
• relaxing at home
• having dinner out

Because of vad ... för planer, it can sound a little like What kind of plans do you have after work today?, but in normal conversation it is just a very natural way to ask what someone is doing later.

It is very close, but not exactly identical in nuance.

• Vad har ni för planer efter jobbet i dag? focuses on plans
• Vad ska ni göra efter jobbet i dag? focuses on what you’re going to do

In many situations, they are interchangeable. But har ni för planer slightly highlights whether there are arrangements, intentions, or ideas, while ska ni göra is a more direct what are you doing question.

Yes, very natural.

It sounds like something you could say to coworkers, friends, classmates, or a group of people near the end of the workday.

It is polite, normal, and conversational. If speaking to one person, you would just change ni to du:

• Vad har du för planer efter jobbet i dag?

You would use du instead of ni:

• Vad har du för planer efter jobbet i dag?

Everything else stays the same.

So the only difference is singular versus plural you:

• du = one person
• ni = more than one person