Vi gick vilse och vände om.

Gick is the past tense of gå (to go / to walk).

• gå = infinitive
• går = present tense = go / am going / are going
• gick = past tense = went

So Vi gick vilse means We got lost / We went astray in the past.

Vilse means lost or astray.

In Swedish, gå vilse is a very common expression that literally looks a bit like go lost, but it actually means get lost.

So:

• gå vilse = get lost
• Vi gick vilse = We got lost

This is one of those expressions that is best learned as a whole phrase.

This is just how Swedish expresses the idea idiomatically.

English often uses get + adjective/past participle:

• get lost
• get tired
• get angry

Swedish often uses other patterns. Here, Swedish uses:

• gå vilse = get lost

So even though gick normally means went, in this expression you should understand the whole phrase gick vilse as got lost.

Vände om means turned back or turned around and went back.

It comes from the verb vända om:

• vända = turn
• vända om = turn back / turn around

So in the sentence:

• Vi gick vilse och vände om.
• We got lost and turned back.

Because vända om is a verb + particle combination, and the particle om changes the meaning.

• vända can mean turn
• vända om means turn back / turn around

Without om, the meaning may feel incomplete or different in this context.

Compare:

• Han vände bilen. = He turned the car.
• Han vände om. = He turned back.

So om is important here.

No. This is a different use of om.

Swedish om can have several meanings depending on context, for example:

• if
• about
• as a particle in verbs, as in vända om

In vände om, om is not if. It is part of the phrasal meaning turn back.

Because in a main clause, Swedish usually places the particle after the finite verb.

So:

• Han vände om.
• Vi vände om.

This is normal for particle verbs in Swedish.

But in some other structures, the particle may stay closer to the infinitive or participle, for example:

• Vi måste vända om. = We must turn back.
• De har vänt om. = They have turned back.

So the placement is following normal Swedish verb-particle patterns.

Because Swedish does not need a reflexive pronoun here.

In English, we might say:

• We turned around
• We turned back

There is no ourselves there either.

Similarly, Swedish simply says:

• Vi vände om.

You do not say Vi vände oss om here if you mean we turned back in the sense of returning.
Vände oss om usually means turned around physically, for example to look behind us.

So there is an important difference:

• Vi vände om. = We turned back / went back
• Vi vände oss om. = We turned around (physically)

Och means and.

It joins the two past actions:

• Vi gick vilse = We got lost
• (och) vände om = and turned back

Because both verbs share the same subject vi, Swedish does not need to repeat it:

• Vi gick vilse och vände om.

This is exactly like English:

• We got lost and turned back.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• Vi gick vilse = We got lost
  This focuses on the moment or event of becoming lost.

• Vi var vilse = We were lost
  This describes the state of being lost.

So:

• Vi gick vilse och vände om. = We became lost / got lost, and then turned back.
• Vi var vilse och vände om. = We were lost, and then turned back.

The original sentence is often the more natural choice if you want to describe the event.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is roughly:

• vilse ≈ VIL-seh

A few useful points:

• Stress is on the first syllable: VIL-
• The i is a short Swedish i
• The e at the end is clearly pronounced, not silent

If you want a rough full-sentence guide:

• Vi gick vilse och vände om
• ≈ Vee yik VIL-seh ok VEN-de om

This is only approximate, but it can help at the beginning.

Yes, it is completely normal.

The structure is:

• Vi = subject
• gick = first verb
• vilse = complement in the expression gå vilse
• och = and
• vände om = second verb phrase

So the sentence is a straightforward coordinated main clause:

• Vi gick vilse och vände om.

It sounds natural and idiomatic.