Breakdown of Ihr Mann schläft trotzdem weiter, obwohl sie schnarcht.
sie
she
obwohl
although
ihr
her
trotzdem
still
Questions & Answers about Ihr Mann schläft trotzdem weiter, obwohl sie schnarcht.
How do I know that Ihr Mann means her husband and not your husband or their husband?
The form ihr/Ihr is ambiguous in German; it can mean several things:
- ihr Mann = her husband (possessive pronoun, 3rd person singular feminine)
- ihr Mann = their husband (possessive pronoun, 3rd person plural)
- Ihr Mann = your husband (formal Sie, possessive, written with capital I)
In your sentence, Ihr Mann schläft trotzdem weiter, obwohl sie schnarcht, the given meaning says it’s her husband, so we interpret Ihr as her.
Grammatically, all three readings are possible. In real texts or conversations, you usually figure out which one is meant from the surrounding context and from who is speaking to whom.
Why do we say Ihr Mann schläft trotzdem weiter and not Ihr Mann schläft weiter trotzdem?