Hon sa att hon tidigast kan vara där kvart i nio.

Sa is the past tense of säga, which means to say.

So:

• säga = to say
• säger = says / is saying
• sa = said
• har sagt = has said

In this sentence, Hon sa ... means that the reporting verb is in the past.

Att means that when it introduces a reported statement or subordinate clause.

So Hon sa att ... is the normal way to say She said that ...

A few useful points:

• att is very common after verbs like säga, tro, veta, hoppas
• in informal spoken Swedish, att is sometimes omitted:
  • Hon sa hon tidigast kan vara där kvart i nio
• but in standard written Swedish, keeping att is safest and most natural

Because after att, Swedish uses subordinate clause word order, not normal main-clause word order.

In a main clause, Swedish usually has the finite verb early:

• Hon kan tidigast vara där kvart i nio.

But in a subordinate clause, the subject comes before the finite verb, and sentence adverbs often come before the finite verb too:

• att hon tidigast kan vara där

Here tidigast is functioning like at the earliest, so it comes before kan in the subordinate clause.

This is the same pattern you see with words like inte:

• Hon kan inte komma.
• ... att hon inte kan komma.

So this sentence is showing a very important Swedish pattern: subordinate clauses often place adverbs before the finite verb.

Tidigast means earliest or at the earliest.

In this sentence, it means:

• this is the earliest possible time
• she might be there later
• she will not be there before that time

So the idea is not just a neutral time statement. It adds a limit: no earlier than that.

Also, tidigast is the superlative form of tidigt:

• tidigt = early
• tidigare = earlier
• tidigast = earliest

This is a very common question, because English often backshifts tense more strongly than Swedish.

Swedish does not always change the tense in reported speech the way English does. After Hon sa att ..., it is often perfectly natural to keep kan if the statement is still being presented as valid.

So:

• Hon sa att hon kan vara där ... = natural Swedish
• Hon sa att hon kunde vara där ... = also possible in some contexts, but it can give a slightly different nuance

Why?

• kan keeps the original possibility more directly
• kunde can sound more like past ability or a more distanced report

So sa ... kan is not a mistake at all. It is normal Swedish.

It means 8:45.

In Swedish time expressions:

• kvart över nio = quarter past nine = 9:15
• kvart i nio = quarter to nine = 8:45

A helpful way to remember it:

• över = past
• i = to the next hour

So kvart i nio is a quarter before nine.

You can also say the digital-style time:

• åtta fyrtiofem

But kvart i nio is very common and natural.

Because Swedish often leaves out klockan when the meaning is already clear.

So both of these are possible:

• ... vara där kvart i nio
• ... vara där klockan kvart i nio

The shorter version is very normal in everyday Swedish.

This is especially common with familiar time expressions such as:

• klockan tre / tre
• halv åtta
• kvart över två
• kvart i nio

So nothing is missing in an unnatural way. The sentence sounds normal as it is.

Because där means there as a location, while dit means to there or there with movement toward a place.

Compare:

• vara där = be there
• åka dit = go there
• komma dit = get there

Since the verb here is vara, Swedish uses där.

One subtle point: in English, this kind of sentence may be translated naturally as arrive there by 8:45, but the Swedish wording is still literally be there. Swedish often uses vara där when talking about the earliest time someone can make it to a place.

Yes. Literally, vara där means be there, but in time-related contexts it often implies manage to get there by that time.

So in practice, hon tidigast kan vara där kvart i nio often means something like:

• that is the earliest time she can make it there
• that is the earliest time she can arrive and be there

This is very natural in Swedish. The exact nuance depends on context, but learners should know that vara där can work this way in everyday speech.