Main Clauses
Basic Swedish sentence structure and verb position
A main clause is a clause that can stand on its own as a complete sentence. In Swedish, main clauses can form statements, questions, and commands.
Jag bor i Sverige.I live in Sweden.
The important thing in Swedish statements is the position of the finite verb. If you start with any other word or phrase than the subject, the verb still comes in second position.
Nu bor jag i Sverige.Now I live in Sweden.
Conjunctions like och, men, för, så, and eller don't count as the first position of a clause but act as a glue. Thus anything coming after is seen as the first position.
Och därför är jag glad.(And that's why I'm glad.)
Och därför jag är glad.
Subjunctions like att, om, när, and eftersom, however, belong to the clause itself. See the article about Subordinate Clauses.
In yes/no questions and commands, nothing comes before the verb, so the verb comes first:
Bor du här?Do you live here?
Gå hem nu!Go home now!
A question word fills the first position like in any other main clause, so the verb stays second: Var bor du?(Where do you live?)
Swedish has no equivalent of English do in questions thus Bor du här?(Do you live here?) is the complete question.
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The full grammar article explains how Swedish main clauses work, the word order in statements, questions, and commands, how to add sentence adverbs like inte, and common learner mistakes.