Learn Swedish: Vi lagar ofta maten tillsammans. - We often cook the food together.

In a standard Swedish sentence, adverbs of frequency like ofta (often), aldrig (never), and ibland (sometimes) go directly after the first verb. So instead of "we often cook", Swedish logic is "we cook often" (vi lagar ofta).

What does lagar mean on its own?

Lagar generally means to "prepare", "make", or even "repair". To say "cook", Swedish uses the phrase lagar mat (literally "prepare food"). In this sentence, that phrase is split up by the adverb ofta.

Why does the sentence use maten instead of just mat?

Mat means "food", and adding the -en to the end makes it definite: maten means "the food". If you just wanted to say the general statement "We often cook together", you would use the indefinite form: Vi lagar ofta mat tillsammans.

Can I start the sentence with ofta instead of vi?

Yes, you can start with ofta if you want to emphasize it. However, if you do that, you must use the Swedish "V2 rule", which says the verb must always be in the second position. The sentence would become: Ofta lagar vi maten tillsammans. Notice how lagar (verb) and vi (subject) swap places to keep the verb second!