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Icelandic

In English, a sentence like "Jón prints his document" is ambiguous. Is it Jón's own document, or does it belong to someone else? Icelandic removes this ambiguity by distinguishing between the **reflexive possessive** and **regular possessive pronouns**.

### Reflexive possessive: sinn

When the object belongs to the 3rd-person *subject* of the sentence (he, she, it, or they), use the reflexive possessive **sinn** ("one's own"). 

Because **sinn** acts like an adjective, it must change its form to match the gender, number, and case of the object being owned. In this lesson, we will see it in the **accusative case**, which is triggered by verbs like *prenta* (to print), *lesa* (to read), and *opna* (to open).

Accusative singular forms of **sinn**:

| Gender | Accusative |
|---|---|
| Masculine | **sinn** |
| Feminine | **sína** |
| Neuter | **sitt** |

### Regular possessives: hans, hennar, þeirra

When the object belongs to *someone else* (not the subject), use the regular possessive pronouns: **hans** (his), **hennar** (her), or **þeirra** (their). 

Unlike *sinn*, these words are **invariable**, meaning they *never change form*, regardless of the object's gender, number, or case.

### Comparing the two

With a neuter object like *skjal* (document), notice how the pronoun changes depending on exactly who owns the document Jón is printing:

{{item:987282}}

{{item:987283}}

With a masculine noun like *samningur* (contract), the reflexive pronoun becomes the masculine accusative **sinn**, while **hans** remains unchanged:

{{item:987286}}

{{item:987287}}

### Feminine objects

For feminine nouns like *mús* (mouse) or *mappa* (folder), the reflexive pronoun becomes **sína**. The invariable pronouns (**hans**, **hennar**, **þeirra**) stay exactly the same.

{{item:987290}}

{{item:987291}}

{{item:987302}}

{{item:987303}}

To summarize: if the subject owns it, match **sinn** to the object. If someone else owns it, just use **hans**, **hennar**, or **þeirra** and do not change their form!

Reflexive versus regular possessives (sinn, hans)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)

Singular pronouns and to be (ég er, þú ert)

Singular adjective agreement

Yes/no questions (ert þú…?)

Basic negation (ekki)

Plural pronouns and to be (við erum, þeir eru)

Group 1 weak verbs (-ar)

Group 2 and 3 verbs (-ir, -ur)

Information questions (hvað, hver, hvar)

Expressing opinions (mér finnst, mér líkar)

Expressing desires (mig langar)

Numbers 1 to 10 (einn, tveir, þrír)

Direct objects on indefinite nouns

Direct objects on definite nouns

Singular object pronouns (mig, þig...)

Plural object pronouns (okkur, ykkur...)

Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

Verb-second word order

Expressing intentions (ætla að)

Needs and wants (þurfa, vilja)

Middle voice verbs (-st)

Possessive pronouns (minn, þinn)

Dative case with prepositions (í, á, frá)

Definite dative nouns (-num, -nni, -nu)

Dative personal pronouns (honum, henni, þeim)

Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)

Definite plural nouns (-nir, -nar, -in)

Accusative plural nouns

Number agreement 1 to 4 (einn, tveir…)

Singular commands

Past tense of the verb to be (var, vorum)

Present continuous (vera að)

Strong verbs in the present tense

Weather and dummy subjects (það)

Invariable possessive pronouns (hans, hennar, þeirra)

Accusative possessives (minn, þinn)

Accompaniment (með)

Dative plural (-um, -unum)

Compound sentences (og, en, eða)

"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)

"This" in the accusative (þennan, þessa, þetta)

Accusative adjectives (-an, -a, -t)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the accusative (einn, tvo, þrjá)

Third-person reflexive pronouns (sig, sér)

The preposition "to" with the genitive (til)

Subordinating conjunctions (að, af því að)

Simple past of weak verbs (-aði)

Question words (hvernig, hvaða)

Physical possession (vera með)

Abstract possession (hafa)

Telling time (hálf, korter)

Plural commands (-ið)

The simple past tense (-di, -ti, -ði)

Possessive noun endings (-s, -ar)

Days of the week (á mánudaginn, á mánudögum)

Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

Um mig — where I am from

Kurteisi — please, sorry, congratulations

Ability and knowing how (kunna að)

Permission (mega)

Obligation (eiga að)

Plural strong verbs

Numbers 11 to 20 (ellefu, tólf...)

Counting by tens to 100 (þrjátíu, fjörutíu...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (fyrsti, annar...)

All / everything / everyone (allur)

The indefinite pronoun someone (einhver)

The indefinite pronoun no one (enginn)

Compound numbers from 21 (tuttugu og)

This in the dative singular (þessum, þessari, þessu)

These in the dative plural (þessum)

My and your in the dative (mínum, þínum)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the dative (einum, tveimur)

Adjectives in the dative singular (-um, -ri, -u)

Adjectives in the dative plural (-um)

Reflexive possessive in the accusative (sinn, sína, sitt)

Reflexive possessive in the dative (sínum, sinni)

Demonstrative plural (þessir, þessar, þessi)

Definite genitive singular (-sins, -arinnar)

Indefinite genitive plural (-a)

Definite genitive plural (-anna)

Genitive prepositions (án, milli, vegna)

Prepositions of direction (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Prepositions of static location (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Weak adjectives in the nominative (-i, -a, -a)

Question	Answer
to print	prenta
the document	skjalið
Jón prints his (own) document.	Jón prentar skjalið sitt.
Jón prints her document.	Jón prentar skjalið hennar.
the boss	stjórinn
the contract	samningurinn
The boss needs to read his (own) contract.	Stjórinn þarf að lesa samninginn sinn.
The boss also needs to read his (someone else's) contract.	Stjórinn þarf líka að lesa samninginn hans.
to lend	lána
the mouse	músin
Does she lend her (own) mouse?	Lánar hún músina sína?
No, she lends their mouse.	Nei, hún lánar músina þeirra.
the keyboard	lyklaborðið
He always cleans his (own) keyboard.	Hann þrífur alltaf lyklaborðið sitt.
He never cleans her keyboard.	Hann þrífur aldrei lyklaborðið hennar.
the monitor	skjárinn
She looks at her (own) monitor.	Hún skoðar skjáinn sinn.
We talk about her monitor.	Við tölum um skjáinn hennar.
the printer	prentarinn
The woman sometimes needs to use her (own) printer.	Konan þarf stundum að nota prentarann sinn.
The man uses her printer.	Maðurinn notar prentarann hennar.
the folder	mappan
The student opens his (own) folder.	Nemandinn opnar möppuna sína.
But the teacher opens his (someone else's) folder.	En kennarinn opnar möppuna hans.