There are plenty of phrases that we use in English that can be [nearly] directly translated into Swedish. One of these phrases is att ha med något att göra, “to have to do with something”.

Now, those of you who are familiar with the individual words in this phrase will notice that their order is not quite the same as in English. For those of you who are less familiar with the vocabulary involved, here you can see the phrase color-coded, matching the Swedish words with the English words:

att ha med något att göra
to have to do with something

Yes, it’s true. In Swedish, you actually say “to have with something to do”. All the words are the same, just in a different order.

Might I however note that you can say att ha att göra med något, however it is much less common and considered by most to be “less correct”.

So, let’s make use of some examples, since this kind of grammar can be rather tricky at first. Imagine yourself in a conversation in which one part brings up something that seems to be unrelated.

Jag och Agneta hittade precis en ledig lägenhet i Märsta.
Agneta and I just found an available apartment in Märsta.

Åh, grattis! Girafferna kommer säkert också vara glada.
Oh, congratulations! The giraffes will surely also be happy.

Giraffer? Hur har den nya lägenheten med giraffer att göra?
Giraffes? How does the new apartment have to do with giraffes?

Great example, right? Here, I have given you the example in interrogative (question) form. If you were to say this declaratively, i.e. as a statement, you would want to say either:

Den nya lägenheten har med giraffer att göra.
The new apartment has to do with giraffes.

-or-

Den nya lägenheten har inget med giraffer att göra.
The new apartment has nothing to do with giraffes.

Another example, and perhaps a more useful one, is telling someone that something has nothing to do with her/him.

Det här har inget med dig att göra!
This has nothing to do with you!

Hope this lesson will come in handy for you. 🙂