Volontären arbetar för föreningen.

Because volontären is the definite singular form: the volunteer.

• volontär = a volunteer
• volontären = the volunteer

In Swedish, definiteness is usually shown by adding an ending to the noun, rather than using a separate word like English the.

For the same reason: föreningen is the definite singular form of förening.

• en förening = an association / an organization
• föreningen = the association / the organization

So the sentence is talking about a specific association, not just any one.

Arbetar is the present tense of arbeta, which means to work.

A useful thing for English speakers: Swedish verbs do not change for person.

• jag arbetar = I work
• du arbetar = you work
• han/hon arbetar = he/she works
• volontären arbetar = the volunteer works

So unlike English, Swedish does not add a special -s for he/she/it works.

Yes. Jobbar is very common in everyday Swedish and usually means the same thing here.

• arbeta = a bit more neutral or formal
• jobba = more everyday and conversational

So Volontären jobbar för föreningen would also be natural in spoken Swedish.

Here för means for in the sense of working for an organization.

It shows who the person is working for or in service of. In this sentence, the volunteer is working for the association.

English speakers often want to translate for very directly, but in Swedish prepositions do not always match English perfectly. In this sentence, arbeta för is the normal pattern.

Because Swedish usually puts the onto the end of the noun.

So instead of:

• the volunteer
• the association

Swedish says:

• volontären
• föreningen

A separate definite word can appear when there is an adjective:

• den unga volontären = the young volunteer

But without an adjective, the ending is usually enough.

This is the normal basic word order for a simple Swedish statement:

subject + verb + other information

• Volontären = subject
• arbetar = verb
• för föreningen = prepositional phrase

So it is very similar to English: The volunteer works for the association.

One important general rule is that Swedish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb normally comes in the second position in main clauses. In this sentence, that happens naturally because the subject comes first.

No. Swedish does not capitalize all nouns.

Volontären has a capital letter only because it is the first word in the sentence. If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be lowercase:

• Jag ser volontären. = I see the volunteer.

So Swedish behaves like English here, not like German.

You mostly have to learn the gender of each noun when you learn the word.

The basic form is:

• en förening

Because it is an en word, the definite singular becomes föreningen.

This is a good habit in Swedish: learn nouns together with their article.

• en volontär
• en förening

That makes it much easier to form volontären and föreningen later.

Then you would usually use the indefinite forms:

En volontär arbetar för en förening.

That means A volunteer works for an association or A volunteer is working for an association.

So the definite and indefinite contrast is:

• Volontären arbetar för föreningen. = specific volunteer, specific association
• En volontär arbetar för en förening. = any volunteer, any association / a general statement