Breakdown of Jobbar du på apoteket?
du
you (singular)
jobba
to work
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
apoteket
the pharmacy
Questions & Answers about Jobbar du på apoteket?
Why do we use på here instead of i? I thought på meant "on".
While på often means "on", we also use it to mean "at" for certain public places, institutions, and workplaces. You will commonly hear på apoteket (at the pharmacy), på banken (at the bank), and på sjukhuset (at the hospital), even though you are physically inside the building.
Where is the word for "do" in this question?
Swedish doesn't use a helper word like "do" to ask questions. Instead, you just put the verb first. So, "Do you work?" translates literally to "Work you?" (Jobbar du?).
Why does apoteket end in -et?
The -et ending is how Swedish says "the" for ett words. The basic noun is ett apotek (a pharmacy). To say "the pharmacy", you attach that ending to the word, making it apoteket.
Could I use arbetar instead of jobbar here?
Yes, absolutely! Jobbar and arbetar both mean "work". Jobbar is a bit more casual and very common in everyday spoken Swedish, while arbetar sounds slightly more formal.