Breakdown of Idag tar jag bussen till jobbet.
jag
I
idag
today
till
to (direction, destination)
jobbet
the work
Questions & Answers about Idag tar jag bussen till jobbet.
Why is it tar jag instead of jag tar like in English?
This is because of the Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule. In a standard Swedish sentence, the verb must always be the second piece of information. Since the time word Idag takes the first spot, the verb tar must come next. That pushes the subject jag into the third spot.
Could I write this sentence starting with Jag instead?
Yes, you could say Jag tar bussen till jobbet idag. Notice that the verb tar is still in the second position here! Starting the sentence with Idag instead of Jag is a very common way to emphasize when something is happening.
Why does the sentence use bussen and jobbet instead of just buss and jobb?
Because the sentence means 'the bus' and 'the work' (or 'the job'). In Swedish, you do not use a separate word for 'the'. Instead, you add an ending to the noun. Buss is an 'en' word, so it becomes bussen. Jobb is an 'ett' word, so it becomes jobbet.
Does tar translate to 'take' or 'am taking' here?
It translates to both! Swedish does not have a separate 'is doing' or 'am doing' tense like English does. Idag tar jag bussen can mean 'Today I take the bus' as a general statement, or 'Today I am taking the bus' as an action happening right now or later today.