In emergency situations, clearly communicating the timing of events is critical. You can connect actions using the subordinating conjunctions of time innan (before), medan (while), and när (when).
Before It Happens: "innan"
To express that one action must happen prior to another, use innan.
| Call the police before the fire gets big! | Ring polisen innan branden blir stor! |
| Help the injured woman before the ambulance arrives! | Hjälp den skadade kvinnan innan ambulansen kommer! |
Simultaneous Actions: "medan"
When two things are happening at the same time, use medan. This works in both the present and past tense.
| We are staying here while you help the injured man. | Vi stannar här medan du hjälper den skadade mannen. |
| We talked to the police while we waited. | Vi pratade med polisen medan vi väntade. |
Events in Time: "när"
To state that one event occurs at the time of another, use när.
| He was stressed when the fire started. | Han var stressad när branden började. |
| The ambulance was already there when we saved the man. | Ambulansen var redan där när vi räddade mannen. |
Starting with a Time Clause
If you emphasize the time clause by putting it at the very beginning of the sentence, it counts as the first position. Because Swedish is a V2 (verb-second) language, the verb of the main clause must come immediately after the time clause, followed by the subject.
| When the alarm goes off, we must leave the building. | När larmet går måste vi lämna byggnaden. |
| While the house is burning, we are saving the family. | Medan huset brinner räddar vi familjen. |
Describing the Situation
Time clauses let you smoothly link details together during an emergency response.
| We must extinguish the fire before the danger is big. | Vi måste släcka branden innan faran är stor. |
| The police explain the situation while we extinguish the fire. | Polisen förklarar situationen medan vi släcker branden. |