Learn Swedish: Tvättar du bilen? - Are you washing the car?

Swedish doesn't use helper words like 'do' or 'are' to ask yes/no questions. Instead, you just put the verb first. 'You wash' is Du tvättar, but to ask a question, you swap the verb and subject to make Tvättar du? (literally 'Wash you?').

Does Tvättar du mean 'Do you wash' or 'Are you washing'?

It translates to both! Swedish doesn't have a separate '-ing' form like English does. Depending on the situation, Tvättar du bilen? can mean 'Are you washing the car right now?' or 'Do you wash the car usually?'.

Where is the word for 'the' in this sentence?

In Swedish, 'the' isn't a separate word that goes in front of the noun. Instead, it attaches to the end of the word. The word for 'a car' is en bil, and adding that -en to the end makes it bilen, which means 'the car'.

Why does the verb tvättar end in -ar?

Most Swedish verbs in the present tense end in -r. The dictionary form (infinitive) of 'to wash' is att tvätta. Because it ends in an -a, you just add an -r to the end to get the present tense: tvättar (wash / washes / am washing).