Temporal Expressions in Swedish

Overview

Temporal expressions let you anchor events in time — saying when something happened, how long it lasted, or when it will occur. Swedish has a rich set of time words and phrases, from simple ones like igår (yesterday) and imorgon (tomorrow) to constructions like för ... sedan (ago) and i ... tid (for ... time). Many of these are single words or short fixed phrases that you can start using immediately.

At the A2 level, temporal expressions are vital for narrating events, making plans, and describing routines. They are the bridge between knowing verb tenses and actually using them naturally in conversation.

How It Works

Basic Time Words

Swedish	English	Example
igår	yesterday	Jag jobbade igår.
idag	today	Idag är det måndag.
imorgon	tomorrow	Vi åker imorgon.
nu	now	Jag äter nu.
sedan / sen	then / after that	Sedan gick vi hem.
snart	soon	Maten är snart klar.
nyligen / nyss	recently / just now	Hon kom nyss.
förut / tidigare	before / earlier	Jag bodde i Lund förut.
redan	already	Han har redan ätit.
fortfarande	still	Hon bor fortfarande där.

Time Constructions

Pattern	Meaning	Example
för ... sedan	... ago	för tre dagar sedan (three days ago)
om + time	in (future)	om en timme (in an hour)
i + duration	for (duration)	i två veckor (for two weeks)
på + time unit	in/on (within)	på fem minuter (in five minutes)
sedan + point	since	sedan januari (since January)
om en stund	in a moment	Jag kommer om en stund.

Days and Parts of the Day

Swedish	English
i morse	this morning
i eftermiddags	this afternoon (past)
i kväll	this evening / tonight
i natt	tonight / last night
i förrgår	the day before yesterday
i övermorgon	the day after tomorrow
förra veckan	last week
nästa vecka	next week
varje dag	every day

Position in the Sentence

Temporal expressions can appear in different positions. When they start the sentence, they trigger inversion (verb before subject):

Position	Example
End (most common)	Jag jobbade igår.
Start (triggers inversion)	Igår jobbade jag.

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Vi träffades för två veckor sedan.	We met two weeks ago.	för...sedan construction
Tåget avgår om tjugo minuter.	The train departs in twenty minutes.	om + future time
Hon har bott här i tre år.	She has lived here for three years.	i + duration
Imorgon ska vi åka till Göteborg.	Tomorrow we will go to Gothenburg.	Inversion after imorgon
Jag ringde dig i morse.	I called you this morning.	i morse = this morning (past)
Förra året reste vi till Norge.	Last year we travelled to Norway.	Inversion after förra året
Han kommer snart.	He is coming soon.	Simple time adverb
Sedan januari har det snöat mycket.	Since January it has snowed a lot.	sedan + point in time
Vi äter middag om en stund.	We will eat dinner in a moment.	om en stund = soon
De har redan lämnat.	They have already left.	redan placed before verb
Jag har inte sett henne på länge.	I haven't seen her for a long time.	på länge = for a long time
Nästa sommar ska jag lära mig simma.	Next summer I will learn to swim.	Future plan

Common Mistakes

Confusing "om" (future) with "i" (duration)

• Wrong: Jag har bott här om tre år.
• Right: Jag har bott här i tre år.
• Why: Om + time means "in (the future)," while i + time means "for (a duration)." Om tre år means "in three years (from now)."

Misplacing "för ... sedan"

• Wrong: Sedan tre dagar jag reste.
• Right: Jag reste för tre dagar sedan.
• Why: The "ago" construction in Swedish wraps around the time expression: för + time + sedan. It is not the same as sedan (since/then) used alone.

Forgetting inversion after a time expression at the start

• Wrong: Igår jag jobbade.
• Right: Igår jobbade jag.
• Why: When any element other than the subject starts the sentence — including time expressions — the verb and subject switch places (V2 rule).

Confusing "i kväll" and "i natt"

• Wrong: Vi ses i natt! (when meaning this evening)
• Right: Vi ses i kväll!
• Why: I kväll means "this evening" (social hours), while i natt means "tonight/last night" (late night, sleeping hours). They cover different parts of the night.

Usage Notes

In casual speech, sedan is often shortened to sen: för tre dagar sen instead of för tre dagar sedan. Both are perfectly understood, but sedan is preferred in writing.

The word på in time expressions can be tricky: på måndag means "on Monday" (specific), på fem minuter means "in five minutes" (duration), and på länge means "for a long time" (often in negatives: inte på länge = "not for a long time").

Practice Tips

• Describe your day using as many temporal expressions as possible: I morse åt jag frukost. Sedan gick jag till jobbet. Om en timme ska jag äta lunch. This builds fluency with natural time sequencing.
• Practice the för ... sedan construction by stating when past events happened: Jag började lära mig svenska för sex månader sedan. This is one of the most useful patterns in conversation.
• Create timeline exercises: write five events and order them using expressions like först (first), sedan (then), efter det (after that), till slut (finally).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Time — You need to know numbers and clock time before building temporal expressions.
• Next steps: Subordinate Clauses — Learn to use temporal conjunctions like när (when), medan (while), and innan (before) to connect time-related clauses.