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### After: *Efter att*

When you want to describe an event that happens after another event, you can use the subordinating conjunction *efter att* (after).

{{item:929586}}

Because *efter att* explicitly connects two events occurring at different times, Swedish strictly requires **tense sequencing**. The action in the *efter att* clause must be in a "completed" tense relative to the main clause.

#### Present and Present Perfect

If the action in the main clause takes place in the present tense, the action in the *efter att* clause must have already happened. Therefore, it takes the **present perfect** tense (*har* + supine verb).

{{item:929600}}

#### Past and Past Perfect

Similarly, if the main action took place in the past (simple past), the event in the *efter att* clause happened even further back in time. In this case, the *efter att* clause must use the **past perfect** tense (*hade* + supine verb).

{{item:929590}}

{{item:929603}}

#### Shifting Focus with the V2 Rule

Like most subordinate clauses, an *efter att* clause can be placed at the very beginning of the sentence to shift the emphasis to the timeline.

Remember the golden V2 (verb-second) rule: when the entire sentence begins with a subordinate clause, that clause counts as the first block of information. The main clause that immediately follows must undergo inversion, starting directly with its conjugated verb.

Here is how that looks with a present tense main clause:

{{item:929595}}

And here is how the V2 rule applies when dealing with past tense actions:

{{item:929597}}

After (efter att)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite ending (barnet, hunden)

Indefinite articles and -ar verbs (en, ett)

Basic word order

Singular adjectives (stor, stort)

Plural adjectives (-a)

Sentence negation (inte)

Yes/No questions

Basic question words (vad, vem, var)

Regular Group 2 verbs (-er)

Short verbs and irregulars (har, gör)

The infinitive marker (att)

Modal verbs (kan, vill, måste, får)

Future intention (ska)

Time adverbs (imorgon, igår)

Word order inversion

Adverbs of frequency (ibland, aldrig)

Everyday things (dörren, stolen, tåget)

Definite suffix spelling changes

Plural nouns Group 1 and 2 (-or, -ar)

Plural nouns Group 3 (-er, -r)

Neuter indefinite plurals

Definite plural suffixes (-na, -a, -en)

Object pronouns (mig, dig, oss)

Reflexive pronouns (sig)

Expanded question words (när, varför)

Which and what (vilken, vilket, vilka)

Coordinating conjunctions (men, eller, för)

Prepositions of place (i, på, till, från)

Quantifiers (mycket, många)

Indefinite pronouns (någon, något, några)

First and second person possessives (min, din, vår, er)

Third person possessives (hans, hennes, dess, deras)

Reflexive possessives (sin, sitt, sina)

The genitive (-s)

Adjectives before singular nouns

Adjectives before plural nouns (-a)

Double definiteness (den, det, de)

Demonstratives (den här, det här, de här)

The imperative mood

Past tense of vara and ha (var, hade)

Possessives for names (-s)

Definite plural adjectives (de ... -a)

Genitive case for names (-s)

Numbers 1 to 10 (en, två, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elva till tjugo)

Counting by tens to 100 (trettio, fyrtio...)

Days of the week (måndag, tisdag...)

Months of the year (januari, februari...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (första, andra...)

Greetings and politeness (hej, tack, förlåt)

Particle verbs of direction (gå ut, komma in)

Simple past: Group 1 (-ade)

Simple past: Group 2a (-de)

Simple past: Group 2b (-te)

Simple past: Group 3 (-dde)

Simple past: Group 4

Present perfect: Groups 1 and 2 (har)

Present perfect: Groups 3 and 4

Past perfect (hade)

Future predictions (kommer att)

Future with present tense

The adjective small (liten, litet, små)

Demonstratives of distance (den där, det där, de där)

Negative pronouns (ingen, inget, inga)

Universal pronouns (all, allt, alla)

The generic pronoun (man, en)

Possessive generic pronoun (ens)

Reciprocal pronoun (varandra)

Qualitative pronouns (sådan, sådant, sådana)

Habitual time expressions (på)

Specific past time expressions (i)

Past time expressions (för ... sedan)

Future time expressions (om)

Location and motion adverbs (här/hit, där/dit)

Consequences (så)

Correlative conjunctions (både ... och)

Either and neither (antingen ... eller, varken ... eller)

Verbs of opinion and belief (tycker, tror, tänker)

Subordinate clauses (att, om)

Time clauses (när, innan, medan)

Clauses of cause (eftersom, därför att)

Negation in subordinate clauses (inte)

V2 word order inversion

Relative clauses as subjects (som)

Relative clauses as objects (som)

Relative clauses for places (där)

Adverbs from adjectives (-t)

Adjective comparative and superlative (-are, -ast)

Question	Answer
the life cycle	livscykeln
the caterpillar	larven
after (conjunction)	efter att
to hatch	kläckas
The life cycle begins when the caterpillar eats the leaf, after the egg has hatched.	Livscykeln börjar när larven äter bladet, efter att ägget har kläckts.
the stage (phase)	stadiet
The caterpillar reached the second stage after it had eaten a lot.	Larven nådde det andra stadiet efter att den hade ätit mycket.
to develop (intransitive)	utvecklas
the cocoon	kokongen
The more the caterpillar eats, the faster it develops inside the cocoon.	Ju mer larven äter, desto snabbare utvecklas den inuti kokongen.
the pupa	puppan
After the caterpillar has grown, it transforms into a pupa.	Efter att larven har vuxit, förvandlar den sig till en puppa.
the butterfly	fjärilen
After the pupa had hung in the tree for a long time, a butterfly crawled out.	Efter att puppan hade hängt i trädet länge, kröp en fjäril ut.
Unlike the caterpillar, the butterfly only eats nectar during this final stage.	Till skillnad från larven äter fjärilen bara nektar under det här sista stadiet.
to unfold	veckla ut
The butterfly flies away after it has unfolded its wings.	Fjärilen flyger iväg efter att den har vecklat ut sina vingar.
After the butterfly had hatched, the beautiful colors developed in the sun.	Efter att fjärilen hade kläckts, utvecklades de vackra färgerna i solen.
The teacher said that the life cycle ended after the butterfly had laid the eggs on the leaf.	Läraren sa att livscykeln slutade efter att fjärilen hade lagt äggen på bladet.
The researcher examined the cocoon after it had fallen from the branch.	Forskaren undersökte kokongen efter att den hade fallit från grenen.
She looked at the butterfly that was unfolding its wings.	Hon tittade på fjärilen som höll på att veckla ut sina vingar.