The Golden Rule: Verb-Second (V2)
In Swedish, the conjugated verb must almost always be the second piece of information in a main clause. When a sentence starts with the subject, the word order looks just like English (Subject-Verb). However, if you start a sentence with anything else—like a time or a place—the verb must remain in the second position. This forces the subject to move after the verb, creating an Adverbial-Verb-Subject word order.
Starting with a Place
When you want to emphasize where an action is happening, you can place a location adverb like hemma (at home) at the beginning of the sentence. Notice how the verb äter (eat) comes right after hemma, before the subject vi (we).
This also applies to prepositional phrases of place, such as på jobbet (at work). Even though the phrase is made up of two words, it counts as a single "piece" of information, so the verb comes immediately after it.
Starting with a Time
Time expressions are very commonly placed at the start of a sentence. Whether it is a single word like nu (now) or idag (today), or a phrase like på morgonen (in the morning), the V2 rule always applies.
V2 with Helper Verbs
When a sentence has both a helper verb and a main verb (like "want to sleep" or "will eat"), only the conjugated helper verb takes the second position. The subject immediately follows the helper verb, and the main infinitive verb comes after the subject.