Learn Hardcore Swedish: Hon skriver en kort beskrivning av utsikten över sjön i sin bok. - She writes a short description of the view over the lake in her book.

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

In Hon skriver … i sin bok:

The subject is hon (she).
sin bok means her own book (the book belongs to her, the subject).

If you said Hon skriver … i hennes bok, it would usually mean:

She is writing … in *some other woman’s book.*

So sin is correct because the book belongs to the subject hon.

Why is the verb skriver used instead of something like “is writing”? Where is the continuous form?

Swedish does not normally use a special continuous form (is writing, are writing) like English does.

Hon skriver can mean:
- She writes (habitual)
- She is writing (right now)

Context decides which one is meant.

There is a way to express ongoing action more explicitly, but it’s less common in simple sentences:

Hon håller på att skriva en kort beskrivning …
(She is in the process of writing a short description …)

However, in most cases, simple presens (present tense) like skriver covers both “writes” and “is writing”.

Why is it en kort beskrivning and not en korta beskrivning?

Adjective endings in Swedish depend on gender, number, and definiteness.

beskrivning is an en‑word (common gender).
Here it is singular and indefinite.

For an indefinite singular en‑word, the adjective takes the basic form:

en kort beskrivning = a short description

Compare:

en kort beskrivning – a short description (indefinite, singular)
den korta beskrivningen – the short description (definite, singular)
korta beskrivningar – short descriptions (indefinite, plural)
de korta beskrivningarna – the short descriptions (definite, plural)

So kort (not korta) is the correct form with en beskrivning in the indefinite singular.

Why is it beskrivning av utsikten? Could it be beskrivning över utsikten?

The noun beskrivning normally uses the preposition av when you describe what something is a description of:

en beskrivning av utsikten – a description of the view
en beskrivning av staden – a description of the city

Över with beskrivning is not idiomatic in this meaning.
Över here belongs to utsikten över sjön (the view over the lake), not to beskrivning.

So the structure is:

en kort beskrivning av utsikten över sjön
= a short description of the view over the lake

Why is it utsikten (with -en) and sjön (with -n)? How do I see that they mean “the view” and “the lake”?

Swedish usually expresses “the” by adding a definite ending to the noun instead of using a separate article:

utsikt – view
utsikten – the view
sjö – lake
sjön – the lake

So:

av utsikten – of the view
över sjön – over the lake

There is no separate word for the; it is built into the noun with -en, -n, -et, or -t depending on gender and word ending.

Why is utsikten definite but beskrivning is not? Why not den korta beskrivningen av utsikten?

In the sentence:

en kort beskrivning av utsikten över sjön

we have:

en kort beskrivning – an unspecified short description (indefinite)
utsikten över sjön – a specific, known view over the lake (definite)

This makes sense if:

The view over the lake is already known or specific.
The description is just one such description, not a specific one already known.

You could say:

Hon skriver den korta beskrivningen av utsikten över sjön i sin bok.

but that would mean something like:

She is writing *the short description of the view over the lake in her book.*

That sounds like there is one particular short description that both the speaker and listener already know about.

So the original sentence correctly treats beskrivning as indefinite and utsikten / sjön as definite.

What exactly does över mean in utsikten över sjön? Could you also use på?

In utsikten över sjön, the preposition över indicates the direction or span of the view:

utsikt över sjön – a view over / across / of the lake

Using på here would sound wrong:

✗ utsikten på sjön – not natural in this meaning

Some contrasts:

utsikt över staden – a view over the city
utsikt mot havet – a view toward the sea
utsikt från balkongen – a view from the balcony

So for “a view over (or of) something large like a lake or city”, över is the standard choice.

Why is the word order Hon skriver en kort beskrivning … i sin bok and not Hon skriver i sin bok en kort beskrivning …?

Swedish basic word order is:

Subject – Verb – Object – other information

In your sentence:

Hon (subject)
skriver (verb)
en kort beskrivning (object)
av utsikten över sjön (complements to the object)
i sin bok (locational phrase: where she writes)

Placing i sin bok at the end is normal and sounds natural.
You can move it earlier:

Hon skriver i sin bok en kort beskrivning av utsikten över sjön.

This is grammatically correct but sounds a bit more marked and less neutral.
Swedish tends to put longer adverbial phrases (like i sin bok) towards the end of the clause, especially after the object.

If I want to negate it, where do I put inte? For example, “She is not writing a short description …”?

In main clauses, inte usually comes after the finite verb:

Hon skriver inte en kort beskrivning av utsikten över sjön i sin bok.
– She is not writing a short description of the view over the lake in her book.

The core pattern:

Hon (subject)
skriver (finite verb)
inte (negation)
[object / other phrases …]

If you move something to the front (for emphasis), the verb still stays in second position and inte stays after it:

I sin bok skriver hon inte en kort beskrivning …

Why is the preposition i used in i sin bok? Could it be på sin bok?

The preposition depends on how Swedish conceptualizes the action:

i (in) is used when something happens inside or within something, including within texts and books:
- i sin bok – in her book (inside the content of the book)
- i tidningen – in the newspaper
- i brevet – in the letter
på (on) would mean on the surface of the book:
- på boken – on the book (physically on the cover, for example)

Since she is writing text inside the book, i sin bok is the correct prepositional choice.

How does en kort beskrivning av utsikten över sjön break down structurally?

You can see it as nested parts:

en kort beskrivning
- en – indefinite article (a/an)
- kort – adjective (short)
- beskrivning – head noun (description)
av utsikten över sjön modifies beskrivning
- av – of
- utsikten – the view
- över sjön – over the lake
över sjön modifies utsikten
- över – over
- sjön – the lake

So the full phrase is:

[a short description] [of [the view [over the lake]]]