Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten.

The artist sings his or her best songs at the concert.

Breakdown of Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten.

• bra: good
• på: at
• konserten: the concert
• låten: the song
• artisten: the artist
• sjunga: to sing
• sina: his or her

Questions & Answers about Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten.

Why do we use sina instead of hans or hennes in this sentence?

Swedish distinguishes between reflexive and non‑reflexive possessives.

• sin / sitt / sina = “his/her/their own” (refers back to the subject of the same clause)
• hans / hennes / deras = “his / her / their” (refers to someone else, not the subject)

In Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten, the songs belong to artisten, which is also the subject. So Swedish uses the reflexive possessive:

• Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar …
  = The artist sings his/her own best songs.

If you said:

• Artisten sjunger hans bästa låtar …

it would normally be understood as:

• The artist sings some other man’s best songs.

Similarly, hennes would refer to some other woman, not to the subject artisten.

Why is it sina and not sin or sitt?

The forms sin / sitt / sina must agree with the thing possessed, not with the owner.

• sin – used with en‑words in singular
  
  • sin bok (his/her own book) – bok is an en‑word, singular
• sitt – used with ett‑words in singular
  
  • sitt hus (his/her own house) – hus is an ett‑word, singular
• sina – used with any gender in plural
  
  • sina böcker (his/her own books)
  • sina hus (his/her own houses)

In the sentence, låtar is plural (one låt, several låtar), so you must use:

• sina låtar, not sin låt or sitt låt.

Why is låtar in the plural, but bästa looks the same as if it were singular?

Bästa is the superlative form of bra (good → better → best).

For adjectives, Swedish has special rules in the superlative:

• bra – bättre – bäst/bästa
  
  • predicative: De är bäst (They are the best)
  • attributive (in front of a noun): de bästa låtarna, sina bästa låtar

When a superlative adjective comes before a noun, it typically takes an ‑a ending (bästa) in most cases (both plural and definite).

So:

• sina bästa låtar – låtar is clearly plural, and bästa is the superlative form used attributively.
• The form bästa does not change between singular and plural in this usage; its shape is fixed here. The plural is indicated by låtar, not by bästa.

Why doesn’t låtar have a definite ending, even though in English we say “the best songs”?

In Swedish, when you use a possessive pronoun (like min, din, hans, hennes, sin, sina), the noun that follows is normally indefinite in form, even if it is definite in meaning.

So you say:

• mina böcker (my books), not mina böckerna
• hans bil (his car), not hans bilen
• sina bästa låtar (his/her best songs), not sina bästa låtarna

In English, we use the with superlatives almost automatically:
the best songs.

In Swedish, the “definiteness” is already expressed by:

• the possessive (sina)
• the superlative meaning (bästa)

So the noun stays in the indefinite plural form: låtar, not låtarna.

Why are artisten and konserten definite, but låtar is not?

Each of these nouns behaves according to a different rule:

1. Artisten

   • artisten = the artist (definite singular)
   • You often use the definite form for “known” individuals or when you are talking about a specific one, for example a specific artist at an event.

2. konserten

   • konserten = the concert
   • Here, it refers to a particular concert, not concerts in general.

3. låtar

   • As explained above, when a noun has a possessive pronoun like sina, it normally stays indefinite in form:
     • sina låtar, mina låtar, hans låtar
   • Even though in English we say the best songs, Swedish relies on sina and bästa to give the definite meaning, so the plural ending is just ‑ar without the definite ‑na.

So the mix artisten – sina bästa låtar – på konserten is perfectly normal Swedish:
definite subject, possessive phrase with an indefinite‑form noun, definite place/event.

Why do we use på with konserten? Could we say i konserten instead?

For events, Swedish very often uses på:

• på konserten – at the concert
• på festen – at the party
• på mötet – at the meeting
• på lektionen – in/at the lesson/class

The preposition i is more about being inside something:

• i huset – in the house
• i bilen – in the car
• i rummet – in the room

A concert is treated as an event, not as a physical container you are “inside”, so på konserten is the natural choice.
i konserten would sound wrong in normal Swedish.

Can we also say under konserten or vid konserten? How would that change the meaning?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

• på konserten

  • Neutral and most common.
  • Means at the concert / during the concert as an event.

• under konserten

  • Literally during the concert.
  • Focuses more on the time span: something happens while the concert is going on.
  • Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar under konserten – grammatically fine, feels slightly more like you’re emphasising when this happens.

• vid konserten

  • Literally by/at the concert.
  • Vid is more about physical proximity or a point in time.
  • vid konserten could sound like “near the concert venue” or “around the time of the concert”, and is unusual here for describing the performance itself.

For a simple statement about what happens at a concert, på konserten is the idiomatic choice.

Can we change the word order to På konserten sjunger artisten sina bästa låtar? Is that correct?

Yes, that is perfectly correct and very natural.

Swedish follows the V2 rule (verb comes in second position in main clauses):

1. Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten.

   • Subject (Artisten) in first slot
   • Finite verb (sjunger) in second slot.

2. På konserten sjunger artisten sina bästa låtar.

   • Adverbial (På konserten) moves to the first slot
   • Finite verb (sjunger) must still stay second
   • Subject (artisten) follows the verb.

Both versions mean essentially the same, but:

• Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten.

  • Neutral order, slight focus on what the artist does.

• På konserten sjunger artisten sina bästa låtar.

  • Extra emphasis on where/when this happens (at the concert).

Does sjunger mean “sings” or “is singing”? How does Swedish present tense work here?

The Swedish present tense (here: sjunger) usually covers both:

• English simple present:
  
  • He sings his best songs at the concert (every time).
• English present continuous:
  
  • He is singing his best songs at the concert (right now).

So Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten can mean:

• a general habit: the artist typically sings the best songs at that concert / at concerts, or
• an action happening now, depending on context.

If you really want to stress that something is happening right now, you can add a time expression:

• Just nu sjunger artisten sina bästa låtar på konserten.
  = Right now the artist is singing his/her best songs at the concert.

What is the difference between låtar and sånger?

Both can be translated as songs, but there is a nuance:

• låt (låtar)

  • Very common, especially in modern, popular music contexts.
  • Roughly like “tune,” “track,” or “song” in everyday speech.
  • en låt på radion – a song/track on the radio.

• sång (sånger)

  • More literally “song,” but feels a bit more formal or traditional, especially about vocal pieces.
  • Also means “singing” as an activity: Han är bra på sång – He is good at singing.
  • julsånger, nationalsånger – Christmas songs, national anthems.

In a sentence about a performing artist at a concert, låtar is the most natural, idiomatic choice:

• Artisten sjunger sina bästa låtar på konserten.
  
  • The artist sings his/her best songs/tracks at the concert.