Word
Hun har sin egen bil.
Meaning
She has her own car.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Hun har sin egen bil.
Why does this sentence use sin instead of hendes?
In Danish, sin is a reflexive possessive pronoun used when the subject of the sentence owns the object. Because the subject (she) owns the car, we must use sin. If we used hendes here, it would mean she has another woman's car.
Why is the word for own spelled egen here?
The word egen changes depending on the gender and number of the noun it describes. Because bil is a common gender noun (an en word) and there is only one car, we use egen. If it were a neuter noun (an et word), it would be eget, and for plural nouns, it would be egne.
Doesn't sin already mean her own? Why do we need the word egen?
You are right that Hun har sin bil already translates clearly to She has her car (and we know it is her own car). Adding egen simply adds extra emphasis, just like in English when we say her own car instead of just her car.
Why is the noun bil in the indefinite form instead of the definite form bilen?
In Danish, whenever you use a possessive pronoun like sin, min, or hendes, the noun that follows it must always be in the indefinite form. So it is sin egen bil, never sin egen bilen.