Breakdown of Mannen tvättar sin bil.
tvätta
to wash
bilen
the car
mannen
the man
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
Questions & Answers about Mannen tvättar sin bil.
Why do we use sin here instead of hans for "his"?
In Swedish, sin is a special word that means "his own" (or "her own" / "their own"). We use it because the car belongs to the subject of the sentence, mannen (the man). If the sentence said Mannen tvättar hans bil, it would mean the man is washing another man's car!
Why is it sin and not sitt or sina?
The word sin has to match the thing being owned, which is bil (car). Because en bil is an en-word and there is only one car, we use sin. If he were washing a house (an ett-word), it would be sitt hus, and if he were washing multiple cars, it would be sina bilar.
Why is it sin bil and not sin bilen?
Just like in English, you don't use "the" after a possessive word. You say "his car", not "his the car". In Swedish, after any possessive word (like sin, min, or hans), the noun drops its definite ending and stays in its basic, indefinite form: sin bil.
What makes mannen mean "the man"?
Swedish doesn't have a separate word for "the" placed in front of the noun. Instead, it adds an ending. The basic word for "a man" is en man. To say "the man", you attach that en to the end, making it mannen.
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