Questions & Answers about Hon kan inte bestämma sig.
What does sig mean in this sentence, and why isn’t it henne or hon?
Sig is the reflexive pronoun for “herself/himself/themselves” in Swedish.
You use sig when the object refers back to the same person as the subject:
- Hon kan inte bestämma sig.
= She can’t decide (literally: can’t decide herself).
If you used henne, it would mean someone else (another “her”):
- Hon kan inte bestämma henne.
= She cannot decide her (unnatural, and has a different meaning).
Hon is only a subject form (“she”), not used as an object here.
So:
- Subject: hon (she)
- Object, same person as subject: sig (herself)
- Object, different person: henne (her)
Why do you need bestämma sig instead of just bestämma to mean “decide”?
In Swedish, “to decide (for oneself)” is normally expressed as bestämma sig (a reflexive verb).
- bestämma sig = to make up one’s mind / to decide
- Jag kan inte bestämma mig. – I can’t decide.
- Har du bestämt dig? – Have you decided?
Bestämma without sig often means to determine / to set / to fix something external:
- Vi måste bestämma priset. – We have to set the price.
- Läraren bestämmer reglerna. – The teacher decides/sets the rules.
So if you mean “She can’t make up her mind”, you need bestämma sig.