Hun glemmer sine støvler i huset.

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Breakdown of Hun glemmer sine støvler i huset.

• huset: the house
• hun: she
• støvlen: the boot

Questions & Answers about Hun glemmer sine støvler i huset.

Why is it sine støvler and not hendes støvler in this sentence?

Danish distinguishes between reflexive and non‑reflexive possessives.

• sine = her own / their own (refers back to the subject of the same clause)
• hendes = her (refers to some female person, not necessarily the subject)

In Hun glemmer sine støvler i huset:

• Subject: Hun (she)
• Possessor of the boots is the same person: she is forgetting her own boots
  → so Danish uses the reflexive possessive sine.

If you said Hun glemmer hendes støvler i huset, it would normally mean:

• She forgets *her boots in the house (where *her = some other woman’s boots, not the subject’s).

What does sine agree with: the owner (hun) or the noun (støvler)?

Formally, sine agrees in number with the possessed noun, not with the owner.

• Owner: hun (she, singular)
• Possessed noun: støvler (boots, plural)
• Reflexive forms:
  • sin – common gender singular (e.g. sin bil – her/his car)
  • sit – neuter singular (e.g. sit hus – her/his house)
  • sine – plural (e.g. sine støvler – her/his boots)

So it’s plural sine because støvler is plural, even though the owner (hun) is singular.

What tense is glemmer, and how would I say “forgot” instead?