Questions & Answers about De säljer sina bilar.
Why is the word for 'their' sina instead of deras here?
sina is a reflexive possessive pronoun, which means it points back to the subject of the sentence (De). It translates to 'their own'. If we used deras instead, the sentence would mean that they are selling other people's cars!
How do I know whether to use sin, sitt, or sina?
The ending depends on the thing being owned, not the owner. Because the word for cars (bilar) is plural, we use the plural form sina. If they were selling just one car (en bil), it would be De säljer sin bil.
Why is the noun bilar (cars) and not bilarna (the cars)?
In Swedish, whenever you use a possessive pronoun like sina, the noun that follows must always be in the indefinite form. Even though we are talking about specific cars, the possessive word already makes it specific enough!
I keep forgetting how to say De. Is it pronounced the way it looks?
No, this is one of those tricky Swedish words! Even though it is spelled De, it is almost always pronounced as dom in everyday speech.
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