Breakdown of Pigen finder sin kam og sin børste.
og
and
pigen
the girl
finde
to find
sin
his/her/its own (common)
Questions & Answers about Pigen finder sin kam og sin børste.
Why does the sentence use sin instead of hendes for "her"?
In Danish, sin is a special word meaning "her own", "his own", or "its own" that points back to the subject of the sentence. Because the girl is finding her own comb and brush, we use sin. If the sentence used hendes, it would mean she was finding another girl's comb and brush.
Why do we use sin instead of sit or sine?
You choose between sin, sit, and sine based on the gender and number of the object being owned, not the owner. Both kam (comb) and børste (brush) are singular en words (common gender), so they both require sin. If she found multiple combs, you would use the plural form sine.
How does the word pigen mean "the girl"?
In Danish, "the" is attached to the end of the noun. The basic word for a girl is en pige. Because it already ends in an "e", we just add an "n" to the end to make it pigen (the girl).
Does the verb finder change if the subject is plural?
No, Danish verbs are very simple! The present tense verb finder stays exactly the same no matter who is doing the action. Whether it is "I find", "the girl finds", or "they find", the verb is always finder.