Questions & Answers about Hon vill skydda sitt konto.
Why is it sitt konto and not hennes konto?
Because sitt is a reflexive possessive. It refers back to the subject of the sentence, which is hon.
So in Hon vill skydda sitt konto, the meaning is that she wants to protect her own account.
Compare:
- Hon vill skydda sitt konto = she wants to protect her own account
- Hon vill skydda hennes konto = she wants to protect another woman’s account
This is a very common point in Swedish. When the possessor is the same as the subject, Swedish usually uses sin / sitt / sina instead of hans / hennes / deras.
Why is it sitt specifically, and not sin or sina?
Sin, sitt, and sina change depending on the noun they describe.
Here the noun is konto, and konto is an ett-word in Swedish: ett konto.
So:
- sin
- en-word singular
- sitt
- ett-word singular
- sina
- plural
Examples:
- sin bok = his/her own book
- sitt konto = his/her own account
- sina böcker = his/her own books
So sitt is used because konto is singular and takes ett.
Why is there no article before konto?