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### Prepositions Before Verbs

In English, when an action verb immediately follows a preposition, we use the "-ing" form (the gerund). For example, we say we are "tired *of waiting*" or "dream *of traveling*". 

Swedish handles this differently. Instead of a gerund, Swedish uses the preposition followed by the infinitive marker *att* and the infinitive verb.

**Preposition + att + infinitive verb**

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### Dealing with Customer Service

The preposition you use depends on the preceding adjective or verb. Let's see this in action when dealing with customer service (*kundservicen*).

For example, *funderar på* (thinking about):

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For feelings about upcoming actions, use *orolig för* (worried about) or *nervös inför* (nervous about):

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(*Inför* means "ahead of" or "before" an event.)

Use *på* and *av* for irritation or frustration:

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### "Without" and "Instead of"

Phrases like *utan* (without) and *i stället för* (instead of) also trigger the *att* + infinitive rule:

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Whenever you combine a preposition and an action, rely on *att* + the infinitive rather than searching for an "-ing" equivalent!

Prepositions before infinitives (på att, om 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 phone queue	telefonkön
the customer service	kundservicen
Today I am tired of waiting in the phone queue for customer service.	Idag är jag trött på att vänta i telefonkön till kundservicen.
before (ahead of an event)	inför
My dad hesitated to call customer service.	Min pappa tvekade inför att ringa kundservicen.
the subscription	abonnemanget
My old dad is thinking about canceling the subscription.	Min gamla pappa funderar på att avsluta abonnemanget.
the elevator music	hissmusiken
the voice response	talsvaret
I am irritated by listening to the elevator music in the automated system.	Jag är irriterad på att lyssna på hissmusiken i talsvaret.
the frustration	frustrationen
the keypad selection	knappvalet
Instead of reducing the frustration, the keypad selection made me angry.	I stället för att minska frustrationen gjorde knappvalet mig arg.
the agent (caseworker)	handläggaren
to transfer	vidarekoppla
The agent managed to transfer the call without disconnecting it.	Handläggaren lyckades vidarekoppla samtalet utan att bryta det.
I am worried about ending up in the phone queue when I am going to change the subscription.	Jag är orolig för att hamna i telefonkön när jag ska byta abonnemanget.
Customer service turned off the elevator music instead of answering.	Kundservicen stängde av hissmusiken i stället för att svara.
Is the automated system bad at transferring the call to the right agent?	Är talsvaret dåligt på att vidarekoppla samtalet till rätt handläggare?
I dream of avoiding the phone queue.	Jag drömmer om att slippa telefonkön.
I am nervous about calling customer service.	Jag är nervös inför att ringa kundservicen.
The frustration increases from listening to the keypad selection.	Frustrationen ökar av att lyssna på knappvalet.
I am tired of waiting in the phone queue.	Jag är trött på att vänta i telefonkön.
She dreams of traveling abroad.	Hon drömmer om att resa utomlands.
Are you afraid of flying?	Är du rädd för att flyga?
He is interested in buying the house.	Han är intresserad av att köpa huset.