Word
Strákurinn tekur sjampóið sitt og svampinn sinn.
Meaning
The boy takes his shampoo and his sponge.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Strákurinn tekur sjampóið sitt og svampinn sinn.
og
and
strákurinn
the boy
taka
to take
sinn
his/her/their own (sinn, sína, sitt)
Questions & Answers about Strákurinn tekur sjampóið sitt og svampinn sinn.
Why use sitt and sinn instead of just hans for "his"?
Because the boy is taking his own things. In Icelandic, if the subject of the sentence owns the object, you must use the reflexive pronoun sinn (meaning "one's own"). If you said Strákurinn tekur sjampóið hans, it would mean he is taking another boy's shampoo!
Why does the word for "his" change from sitt to sinn in the same sentence?
The pronoun sinn changes to match the gender of the noun it belongs to. Sjampó is a neuter noun, so it takes the neuter form sitt. Svampur (sponge) is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine form sinn. Both are in the accusative case here because they are the direct objects being taken.
Why do the nouns have "the" attached to them (sjampóið, svampinn) if he is taking "his" things?
Unlike English, Icelandic usually keeps the definite article (the attached "the") on the noun even when a possessive pronoun follows it. So you literally say "shampoo-the his" (sjampóið sitt) and "sponge-the his" (svampinn sinn).
What case are the words sjampóið and svampinn in here?