Learn Swedish: Var spelar pojken fotboll? - Where is the boy playing football?

In Swedish, questions that start with a question word like var (where) must put the verb in the second position. This means the verb swaps places with the subject. So, Swedish literally asks "Where plays the boy?".

The English translation says "is playing". Why is there no word for "is" before spelar?

Swedish does not have a continuous "-ing" tense like English does. The single present tense verb spelar means both "plays" and "is playing". You never use the Swedish word for "is" (är) together with an action verb like this.

Why is the word for boy written as pojken instead of pojke?

In Swedish, the word for "the" is attached to the end of the noun rather than being a separate word in front of it. The basic word for "a boy" is en pojke. To say "the boy", you add an -n to the end, making it pojken.

Why do we use var here to mean "where"?

Var is the exact question word you use when asking about a static location or where an action is currently taking place. Since we want to know the location where the boy is playing, var is the correct word.