Breakdown of På onsdag måste jag städa rummet.
jag
I
städa
to clean
rummet
the room
måste
to have to, must
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
onsdag
Wednesday
Questions & Answers about På onsdag måste jag städa rummet.
Why is it måste jag instead of jag måste?
In Swedish, the main verb must almost always be the second piece of information in a sentence. This is called the V2 rule. Because the sentence starts with the time phrase På onsdag, the verb måste must come right after it, pushing the subject jag into the third position.
Does måste mean 'must' or 'have to'?
It means both! Swedish uses måste to cover both 'must' and 'have to'. Notice that just like with 'must' in English, you do not use the word 'to' (att) after måste. It is followed directly by the base form of the next verb, städa.
How does rummet translate to 'the room'?
In Swedish, the word for 'the' is attached to the end of the noun rather than being a separate word. The basic word is ett rum (a room). To make it 'the room', you add -et to the end. The letter 'm' is doubled to become rummet so that the 'u' keeps its short, quick sound.
Why do we use på onsdag instead of på onsdagen?
When you want to say you are doing something on the very next upcoming Wednesday, you use på plus the basic uninflected form of the day, onsdag. If you were talking about a repeating habit (On Wednesdays I have to...), you would say på onsdagar instead.
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