Learn Swedish: Gästen får bara vara i den exklusiva loungen. - The guest may only be in the exclusive lounge.

Bara (only) is a sentence adverb acting as a focus particle here. In a standard Swedish main clause, these adverbs are placed right after the first, conjugated verb (får) and before any additional verbs in the infinitive (vara).

Could we move bara to right before the location instead?

Yes, you could say Gästen får vara bara i den exklusiva loungen. Moving a focus particle directly in front of the phrase it modifies (the lounge) creates a very strong contrast, highlighting that they belong nowhere else. However, putting it in the standard adverb position after the first verb is the most natural and common phrasing.

Why does the Swedish say den exklusiva loungen instead of just den exklusiva lounge?

This is a reminder of the Swedish "double definite" rule. When a definite noun is modified by an adjective, you must use the independent article (den), add the -a ending to the adjective (exklusiva), and also keep the definite suffix on the noun itself (loungen).

How do we know får means "may" here and not "gets"?

When får is used as a modal (helper) verb together with an infinitive verb like vara (to be), it translates to "may" or "is allowed to". It usually only translates to "gets" or "receives" when it acts as the main verb of the sentence, followed by a noun rather than a verb.