Breakdown of Hún sér bilaðan bíl úr glugganum sínum.
bíllinn
the car
hún
she
glugginn
the window
sjá
to see
úr
out of
sinn
his/her/their own (sinn, sína, sitt)
bilaður
broken
Questions & Answers about Hún sér bilaðan bíl úr glugganum sínum.
Why does this sentence use sínum instead of hennar for "her"?
Sínum is a form of the reflexive possessive pronoun sinn (one's own). You use it when the "owner" of the object is also the subject of the sentence. Since the subject hún (she) is looking out of her own window, we use sínum. If she were looking out of another woman's window, you would use hennar.
Why is sínum in the dative case here?
The pronoun has to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it belongs to, which is glugganum. The preposition úr (from/out of) always forces the following noun into the dative case. Because gluggi (window) is a masculine noun, the masculine, singular, dative form of sinn is sínum.
Why is it glugganum sínum with the definite article instead of just glugga sínum?
In Icelandic, when you place a possessive pronoun like sínum immediately after a noun, that noun usually needs to have the definite article (the "the" ending) attached to it. So glugganum literally means "the window", but together with sínum, the phrase simply translates to English as "her window".
Why is it bilaðan bíl instead of the dictionary forms bilaður bíll?
The phrase "broken car" is the direct object being seen, so the verb sjá (to see) forces it into the accusative case. Bíll (car) is a masculine noun, and its accusative form drops the last L to become bíl. The adjective bilaður (broken) must match, taking the masculine singular accusative ending -an to become bilaðan.
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