Vi ska möta Sara vid stationen innan vi går hem.

Ska is very common in Swedish for talking about the future, especially when there is a plan, intention, or arrangement.

So Vi ska möta Sara ... means something like:

• We’re going to meet Sara ...
• We will meet Sara ...

It often sounds more natural than a direct future form in everyday Swedish.

Also, ska can sometimes mean supposed to or going to, depending on context. In this sentence, it most naturally expresses a planned future action.

Because ska is a modal verb, and after modal verbs in Swedish, the next verb normally comes in the infinitive without att.

So:

• ska möta
• kan gå
• vill äta
• måste läsa

Not:

• ska att möta ✘

This is similar to English in sentences like we will meet or we can go, where you also do not add to after the modal.

Both can often be translated as meet, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• möta = meet, often with the sense of meeting someone at a place or going to meet them
• träffa = meet / see, often more general, like meeting up with someone or seeing someone

In this sentence, möta Sara vid stationen suggests meeting Sara at the station, perhaps because she is arriving there and you are going there to meet her.

So möta fits very naturally here.

Vid usually means by, at, near, beside. It focuses on being at that location or next to it.

So vid stationen means:

• at the station
• by the station
• near the station

You could sometimes hear på stationen too, but that more strongly suggests being in/at the station as a place. In many contexts, vid stationen sounds more like at the station area / outside / by the station entrance.

So the choice depends a bit on the exact situation, but vid stationen is very natural here.

Because stationen is the definite form of station:

• en station = a station
• stationen = the station

In Swedish, the definite article is often added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So here:

• vid stationen = at the station

The sentence uses the definite form because it refers to a specific station that the speakers already know.

Because innan introduces a subordinate clause.

In a Swedish subordinate clause, the word order is usually more straightforward than in a main clause:

• subject + verb

So:

• innan vi går hem = before we go home

Not:

• innan går vi hem ✘

This is an important contrast in Swedish:

• Main clause: Vi går hem.
• Subordinate clause: ... innan vi går hem.

Hem means home in the sense of toward home.

Swedish often does not use a separate preposition like English to in expressions of movement toward home.

So:

• gå hem = go home
• åka hem = go/travel home
• komma hem = come home

Compare:

• hem = homeward / to home
• hemma = at home

So:

• vi går hem = we go home
• vi är hemma = we are at home

Not necessarily.

The verb gå literally means walk/go, but in the expression gå hem, it often just means go home in a general sense, especially in everyday speech.

Depending on context, it may or may not emphasize walking. If Swedish speakers want to be more specific about the method of travel, they can use another verb, for example:

• åka hem = go home by vehicle / travel home
• köra hem = drive home

But gå hem is very common and often understood simply as go home.

Yes, ska can sometimes have that meaning.

Depending on context, vi ska möta Sara could mean:

• We’re going to meet Sara
  or
• We’re supposed to meet Sara

But without extra context, most learners should read it here as a planned future action: we’re going to meet Sara.

Swedish ska covers several uses that English splits between will, be going to, and be supposed to.

Because Swedish usually does not use commas before subordinate clauses as often as English sometimes does.

So this is normal:

• Vi ska möta Sara vid stationen innan vi går hem.

A comma would usually be unnecessary here.

Swedish punctuation is generally a bit lighter in this kind of sentence.

Yes. Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule, which means the finite verb must come in the second position.

The sentence as given starts with the subject:

• Vi ska möta Sara vid stationen innan vi går hem.

But you could move another element to the front, and then the verb must still stay second:

• Innan vi går hem ska vi möta Sara vid stationen.
• Vid stationen ska vi möta Sara innan vi går hem.

Notice that when something other than vi comes first, the order becomes:

• [fronted element] + ska + vi ...

not

• [fronted element] + vi ska ... ✘

That is a very important feature of Swedish sentence structure.