There are three different word order structures to follow in the Swedish language: the traditional word order of the main clause, the inverted word order of the main clause, and the word order of the subordinate clause.
A main clause contains an independent thought and can form a grammatically acceptable and understandable sentence on its own. A subordinate clause adds information to the main clause or specifies something in the main clause, and it does not work on its own without the main clause.
The word order of the subordinate clause is near identical to that of the traditional main clause word order (SVO). The main difference is that the qualifier comes before the verb and not after it. A subordinate clause usually starts with a conjunction or a similar structure.
The word order of a subordinate clause in a nutshell: conjunction, subject, qualifier, verb, object, how, where, when.
In the following example, the beginning of the subordinate clause has been bolded.
Det är kul att jag redan kan gå hem.
It’s nice that I can already go home.
Subordinating conjunctions
Common subordinating conjunctions are e.g.:
att = that
när, då = when
fast = although
fastän, även om = even though
om = if
eftersom = because
innan, förrän = before
för att, så att = so that
medan = while
tills = until
ju – desto = the – the (comparing two things)
A subordinate clause can also come before the main clause. In this case too, the word order of the subordinate clause is 1. conjunction, 2. subject, 3. qualifier and 4. predicate. The word order of the main clause is inverted:
Eftersom litteratur inte är ett av mina intressen, läser jag inte så mycket.
Since literature isn’t an interest of mine, I don’t read much.
Relative clause
Relative clauses also have the word order of the subordinate clause, i.e. 1. conjunction, 2. subject, 3. qualifier and 4. predicate.
The words that start a relative clause are e.g.:
som = which, that
vilket = which, what
vars = whose
där = where
dit = where to, there
då = when
Det är någonting som Jesse inte förstår.
It’s something that Jesse doesn’t understand.