Han glemmer altid sin gaffel, men husker næsten altid sin ske.

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Breakdown of Han glemmer altid sin gaffel, men husker næsten altid sin ske.

• han: he
• huske: to remember
• altid: always

Questions & Answers about Han glemmer altid sin gaffel, men husker næsten altid sin ske.

Why is it sin gaffel and sin ske, and not hans gaffel / hans ske?

Danish has two different kinds of “his/her” in the 3rd person:

• sin / sit / sine = reflexive possessive
  
  • Refers back to the subject of the same clause.
• hans / hendes / deres = non‑reflexive possessive
  
  • Refers to someone else, not the subject.

In this sentence, the subject of both clauses is han, so the fork and spoon belong to that same he. Therefore you must use the reflexive form sin:

• Han glemmer altid sin gaffel = He forgets his own fork.
• (Han) husker næsten altid sin ske = He remembers his own spoon.

If you said hans gaffel, it would usually be understood as some other man’s fork, not the subject’s.

Why is it sin in both sin gaffel and sin ske, and not sit or sine?