Breakdown of Hun sender et brev til sin bror.
hun
she
et
a / an (neuter)
brevet
the letter
broren
the brother
sin
his/her/its own (common)
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
sende
to send
Questions & Answers about Hun sender et brev til sin bror.
Why is sin used here instead of hendes?
In Danish, sin (along with sit and sine) is a reflexive possessive pronoun used when the subject of the clause owns the object. Because Hun (She) is the subject and it is her own brother, we use sin. If the sentence used hendes, it would mean she is sending a letter to some other woman's brother.
Could we rewrite this sentence without the preposition til?
Yes! Just like in English, you can use a double object construction: Hun sender sin bror et brev. When you do this, the indirect object (sin bror) must come right after the verb, and you drop the preposition til.
The English translation says "is sending," but isn't sender just "sends"?
It means both! Danish does not have a dedicated continuous tense (like the "-ing" form in English). Depending on the context, Hun sender translates perfectly to either "She sends" (a routine) or "She is sending" (happening right now).
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