Breakdown of Tidningen läser de när de åker med tunnelbanan.
de
they
tidningen
the newspaper
läsa
to read
åka
to go, to travel, to leave
när
when
med
with
tunnelbanan
the subway
Questions & Answers about Tidningen läser de när de åker med tunnelbanan.
Why is med used here instead of a word that literally means 'by'?
In Swedish, the preposition med (literally 'with') is used to indicate the mode of transportation you are taking or the tool you are using. So, 'travel by subway' naturally translates to åker med tunnelbanan.
In English we say 'by subway' without 'the'. Why does Swedish use the definite form tunnelbanan?
When expressing how you travel using åker med, Swedish almost always uses the definite form of the vehicle. You will see this same pattern with other modes of transport, like bussen (the bus) or tåget (the train).
Why does the sentence start with Tidningen and reverse the subject and verb into läser de?
The speaker is putting the focus on the newspaper by moving it to the front of the sentence. Because of the Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule, the verb läser must remain the second block of information in the clause, which forces the subject de to come right after it.
Could I use reser instead of åker to mean 'travel' in this sentence?
Åker is much more natural here. While both verbs can translate to 'travel', resa usually implies a longer journey or a vacation. For everyday riding, commuting, or taking local transport, you should use åka.
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