Efter att hon hade använt dammsugaren tog hon fram moppen och började skura köket.

Efter att means after when it introduces a whole clause, not just a noun.

• Efter
  • noun: efter middagen = after dinner
• Efter att
  • clause: efter att hon hade använt dammsugaren = after she had used the vacuum cleaner

So here, att is needed because what follows is a full clause with a subject and verb: hon hade använt.

Hade använt is the past perfect, like English had used. It shows that one action happened before another past action.

In the sentence:

• hon hade använt dammsugaren = she had used the vacuum cleaner
• tog hon fram moppen = then she took out the mop

So the vacuuming happened first, and the mopping came after. Swedish uses the past perfect here for the same reason English often does.

This is because Swedish has V2 word order in main clauses. That means the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

The sentence begins with the time clause:

Efter att hon hade använt dammsugaren

Because that whole clause comes first, the verb in the main clause must come next:

• Efter att ... tog hon fram moppen

Not:

• Efter att ... hon tog fram moppen

This is very common in Swedish:

• Igår gick jag hem
• När han kom började vi äta
• Efter att hon hade använt dammsugaren tog hon fram moppen

Dammsugaren is the definite form, meaning the vacuum cleaner.

Swedish often uses the definite form when talking about a specific object that is understood from the situation. In a cleaning context, dammsugaren naturally means the vacuum cleaner she was using.

Forms:

• en dammsugare = a vacuum cleaner
• dammsugaren = the vacuum cleaner

The same thing happens with moppen:

• en mopp = a mop
• moppen = the mop

Tog fram is a phrasal expression meaning something like took out, brought out, or got out.

• ta = take
• ta fram = take out / bring out / produce for use

So tog hon fram moppen means she got the mop out so she could use it.

This is more natural than just tog, which would often feel incomplete here.

Some similar expressions:

• ta fram nycklarna = take out the keys
• ta fram telefonen = get out the phone

After börja, Swedish often uses the infinitive without att, especially in everyday language.

So both of these can occur, but the version without att is very common:

• började skura = began scrubbing
• började att skura = also possible, but often sounds a bit more formal or heavier

For learners, it is very useful to remember that börja commonly takes a bare infinitive in modern Swedish.

Skura is more specific than just clean. It means scrub or wash by rubbing hard, often a floor.

So in this sentence, började skura köket suggests she started mopping/scrubbing the kitchen floor, not just doing general cleaning.

Compare:

• städa = clean/tidy in general
• rengöra = clean, make clean
• torka = wipe/dry
• skura = scrub

Because the sentence mentions moppen, skura fits very naturally.

Here köket is the direct object of skura.

• skura köket = scrub the kitchen
• skura golvet i köket = scrub the floor in the kitchen

In Swedish, just like in English, you can sometimes use the room itself as the object when you really mean cleaning its surfaces, especially the floor.

So skura köket is natural and idiomatic. It does not mean she scrubbed every wall and ceiling literally; it usually refers to cleaning the kitchen floor/area.

Because och började skura köket is simply continuing the main clause.

The structure is:

• Efter att ... = subordinate clause
• tog hon fram moppen = main clause
• och började skura köket = coordinated verb phrase attached to the same subject hon

The subject hon does not have to be repeated because it is understood:

• tog hon fram moppen och började skura köket = she took out the mop and started scrubbing the kitchen

Yes:

• Efter att = after
• hon = she
• hade använt = had used
• dammsugaren = the vacuum cleaner
• tog = took
• hon = she
• fram = out/forward, part of ta fram
• moppen = the mop
• och = and
• började = began/started
• skura = scrub
• köket = the kitchen

A structure-based breakdown:

1. Efter att hon hade använt dammsugaren

   • after she had used the vacuum cleaner

2. tog hon fram moppen

   • she took out the mop

3. och började skura köket

   • and started scrubbing the kitchen

It sounds natural and standard. Nothing in it is unusually formal.

A few things make it feel very normal:

• Efter att is standard
• hade använt is a normal way to show earlier past action
• tog fram is everyday Swedish
• började skura sounds natural and idiomatic

A more casual speaker might sometimes simplify the tense in speech, but the sentence as written is completely normal and good Swedish.