Learn Swedish: På rasten brukade vi spela fotboll på skolgården. - During the break, we used to play football in the schoolyard.

This is because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence starts with the time phrase På rasten (During the break), which takes up the first position. Therefore, the verb brukade must come immediately after it in the second position, pushing the subject vi to the third position.

Do we need to use att (to) before spela since it translates to 'used to play'?

No, you shouldn't use att here. In Swedish, bruka (and its past tense brukade) acts as an auxiliary (helping) verb. It is always followed directly by the bare infinitive spela, similar to how we say 'can play' or 'would play' in English.

How does brukade spela differ from just saying spelade?

Using brukade spela emphasizes that this was a habitual, repeated action in the past, perfectly capturing the English 'used to play'. If you just said spelade, it could mean you merely played football once during a specific break.

Why do we use the preposition på for both på rasten and på skolgården?