Breakdown of Min jacka är blå, men hennes klänning är röd.
Questions & Answers about Min jacka är blå, men hennes klänning är röd.
In Swedish, the possessive pronoun must agree with the grammatical gender and number of the noun it describes.
- jacka (jacket) is an en-word (common gender), singular.
- For en-words, singular, you use min (my).
- For ett-words, singular, you use mitt.
- For plural nouns, you use mina, regardless of gender.
Examples:
- min jacka – my jacket (en jacka)
- mitt hus – my house (ett hus)
- mina jackor – my jackets (plural)
Swedish distinguishes between the subject pronoun (she) and the possessive pronoun (her):
- hon = she (subject pronoun)
- henne = her (object form)
- hennes = her (possessive: her something)
So you must use the possessive form hennes before a noun:
- Hennes klänning = her dress
- Jag gillar hennes klänning. = I like her dress.
You cannot say hon klänning; that would be like saying she dress in English.
Both hennes and sin can translate to her, but they are used differently.
- hennes is used when the owner is some other female person, or when there is no subject to refer back to.
- sin/sitt/sina refers back to the subject of the clause.
In your sentence:
Min jacka är blå, men hennes klänning är röd.
The subject of the second clause is (implicit) hon / she? Actually, the subject is just her dress (hennes klänning), so there is no subject pronoun to refer back to with sin. Therefore, hennes is correct.
Compare:
Lisa tycker att hennes klänning är röd.
= Lisa thinks someone else’s (some other woman’s) dress is red.Lisa tycker att sin klänning är röd.
= Lisa thinks her own dress is red. (sin refers back to the subject Lisa.)
In your sentence, you’re just contrasting my jacket and her dress, so hennes klänning is the natural choice. Sin klänning would sound wrong here.
Swedish adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and definiteness.
Basic rules:
Singular, en-word, indefinite
- Use the base form of the adjective:
- en blå jacka, en röd bok
In your sentence: Min jacka är blå, hennes klänning är röd.
Both jacka and klänning are en-words, singular, indefinite → base form.
Singular, ett-word, indefinite
- Add -t:
- ett blått hus (a blue house)
- ett rött äpple (a red apple)
Plural, indefinite (all genders)
- Usually add -a:
- blåa jackor, röda bilar
Definite forms (with den/det/de or a definite noun like jackan)
- Also usually -a:
- den blåa jackan, den röda bilen, de blåa bilarna
Note: blå is a bit irregular but follows the same pattern in practice:
- en blå jacka
- ett blått hus
- blåa jackor / de blåa jackorna
Yes. Swedish has one present tense form of “to be”:
- är = am / is / are (present)
Examples:
- Jag är trött. – I am tired.
- Hon är glad. – She is happy.
- De är hemma. – They are at home.
So in your sentence:
- Min jacka är blå – My jacket is blue
- hennes klänning är röd – her dress is red
Both singular subjects use är.
In this sentence:
Min jacka är blå, men hennes klänning är röd.
the comma separates two independent clauses (two full sentences) joined by men (but). This is similar to English.
- Min jacka är blå – complete sentence
- hennes klänning är röd – complete sentence
In standard written Swedish, it is normal and recommended to put a comma before men when it joins two full clauses like this.
If men connects only smaller parts (not full clauses), you often don’t use a comma:
- Hon köpte en blå men billig klänning.
(She bought a blue but cheap dress – no comma)
Swedish doesn’t use a separate word for the; instead, it usually attaches a definite ending to the noun. Also, when you have a possessive pronoun (min, hennes, etc.), you generally do not add an article.
- en jacka – a jacket
- jackan – the jacket
min jacka – my jacket (no “a” or “the”)
- en klänning – a dress
- klänningen – the dress
- hennes klänning – her dress
So:
- Min jacka är blå – My jacket is blue.
(You don’t say den min jacka or anything similar.) - Hennes klänning är röd – Her dress is red.
The natural, standard word order in Swedish is possessive pronoun + noun:
- Min jacka är blå. – My jacket is blue.
- Hennes klänning är röd. – Her dress is red.
Forms like jackan min do exist but:
- they are dialectal, poetic, or old-fashioned,
- and they don’t fit neutral modern standard Swedish.
So for everyday speech and writing, you should always say:
- min jacka, din bok, hennes bil, vår lärare, etc.
Approximate pronunciations (in simple English-like terms):
jacka → [YAK-ka]
- j is pronounced like English y in yes
- stress on the first syllable: YAK-ka
klänning → roughly [KLEN-ning]
- ä like e in bed but a little more open
- nn
- ing sounds close to English nen-ning
- stress on the first syllable: KLEN-ning
röd → roughly [rehd]
- ö is a rounded vowel, between English e in bed and u in burn (but with rounded lips)
- d at the end is often soft or almost silent in casual speech, so it can sound more like rö.
For precise pronunciation you’ll want to listen to native audio, but these hints give you a rough idea.
klänning = dress (a one-piece garment, usually worn by women)
- en klänning, två klänningar – a dress, two dresses
kläder = clothes (general word, always plural)
- mina kläder – my clothes
- You don’t say en kläder; you’d say ett klädesplagg (a garment) or use a specific item word.
kjol = skirt
- en kjol, två kjolar
So in your sentence, hennes klänning specifically refers to her dress, not just her clothes in general.