Learn Swedish: Idrottaren tränar varje dag, oavsett väder. - The athlete trains every day, regardless of the weather.

After oavsett, Swedish naturally uses a bare, indefinite noun when referring to a general category, phenomenon, or condition. While English prefers "regardless of the weather", Swedish phrasing is closer to "regardless of weather".

Is oavsett acting as a preposition or a conjunction in this specific sentence?

Here, oavsett acts as a preposition because it directly introduces a noun phrase (väder). If it were to introduce a full clause with a verb, it would act as a conjunction, which usually requires adding om or a question word (for example, oavsett om det regnar — "regardless of whether it rains").

Idrottaren translates to "the athlete". How is the definite form constructed for this type of noun?

The base word is en idrottare. Swedish nouns ending in -are, which typically describe a person performing an action, simply take an -n in the definite singular form, making it idrottaren.

What is the literal breakdown of the word oavsett?

It is built from the negative prefix o- (un- or not) and avsett, which is the past participle of avse (to intend, aim, or regard). Literally, it implies that a condition is "unregarded" or "not taken into consideration".