Efter samtalet med läkaren kände hon sig lättad.

Because Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must come in the second position.

Here, Efter samtalet med läkaren is placed first in the sentence, so the verb kände has to come next:

• Efter samtalet med läkaren kände hon sig lättad.

If you start with the subject instead, then you get:

• Hon kände sig lättad efter samtalet med läkaren.

Both are correct, but the word order changes depending on what comes first.

In Swedish, you usually do not put a comma after a fronted time phrase like this one.

So Swedish normally writes:

• Efter samtalet med läkaren kände hon sig lättad.

Even though English often allows a comma in similar cases, Swedish punctuation is usually lighter here.

Efter is a preposition meaning after, and here it is followed by a noun phrase:

• efter samtalet = after the conversation

If what comes after after is a whole clause with a verb, Swedish usually uses efter att:

• Efter att hon hade pratat med läkaren kände hon sig lättad.

So:

• efter + noun
• efter att + clause

Because samtalet is the definite singular form of ett samtal.

The pattern is:

• ett samtal = a conversation
• samtalet = the conversation

Swedish often puts the definite ending directly on the noun, instead of using a separate word like the.

For the same reason: läkaren is the definite singular form of en läkare.

The pattern is:

• en läkare = a doctor
• läkaren = the doctor

So med läkaren means with the doctor.

Yes. samtalet med läkaren means the conversation with the doctor.

Here, med means with, showing who the conversation was with.

It does not mean the doctor was simply physically accompanying someone. In this context, it naturally describes the other participant in the conversation.

Because Swedish uses the expression känna sig to mean to feel in the sense of being in a physical or emotional state.

So:

• känna by itself often means to know, to feel, or to sense
• känna sig means to feel oneself / to feel

Examples:

• Hon kände sig trött. = She felt tired.
• Jag känner mig glad. = I feel happy.

Without sig, the sentence would sound wrong in this meaning.

Sig is a reflexive pronoun. It refers back to the subject.

In this sentence, hon is the subject, and sig refers back to hon:

• hon ... sig = she ... herself

Swedish uses sig for third person reflexive reference, regardless of gender:

• Han kände sig trött.
• Hon kände sig trött.

But in first and second person, Swedish uses the ordinary object forms:

• Jag kände mig trött.
• Du kände dig trött.

Kände is the preterite (simple past) form of känna.

The forms are:

• känna = infinitive
• känner = present
• kände = past
• känt = supine / past participle-related form

So this sentence is describing a completed feeling in the past.

Because lättad agrees with the person being described.

Here, the subject is hon, which is a singular common gender referent, so the adjective/past-participle form is:

• lättad

Compare:

• Han kände sig lättad.
• Hon kände sig lättad.
• Barnet kände sig lättat.
• De kände sig lättade.

So the ending changes depending on gender/number.

It behaves like an adjective, even though it comes historically from a participle.

In kände sig lättad, it describes the state the person was in after the conversation. That is why it agrees like an adjective:

• lättad
• lättat
• lättade

So in practical learning terms, it is best to think of it as a describing word after känna sig.

Yes, absolutely.

That version starts with the subject:

• Hon kände sig lättad efter samtalet med läkaren.

This is also correct and may sound a bit more neutral in some contexts. The original sentence puts more focus on when she felt relieved, because the time phrase comes first.

The noun is ett samtal, and its definite singular form is made by adding -et:

• samtal + et = samtalet

This is normal for many ett-words. The final result may look long, but it is just the noun plus the definite ending.

A simple learner-friendly guide:

• kände sounds roughly like SHEN-deh, but with a softer Swedish k before ä
• läkaren sounds roughly like LEH-ka-ren

A few helpful points:

• ä sounds somewhat like the e in bed, though Swedish vowel quality is not exactly the same as English.
• Stress is usually early in these words:
  • KÄN-de
  • LÄ-ka-ren

If you want to sound more natural, focus especially on the vowel in ä and on keeping the stress on the first syllable.

Yes. It is very typical.

It shows several extremely common Swedish patterns:

• a fronted time phrase: Efter samtalet med läkaren
• V2 word order: kände hon
• the common expression känna sig
• an adjective/participle describing a state: lättad

So this is a very useful model sentence for everyday Swedish.