Breakdown of Mamman kramar sina barn.
barnet
the child
mamman
the mother
sina
his/her/its/their own (plural)
krama
to hug
Questions & Answers about Mamman kramar sina barn.
Why do we use sina here instead of hennes?
We use sina because it is a reflexive possessive pronoun, meaning it reflects back to the subject of the sentence. If we used hennes (her), it would mean the mother is hugging some other woman's children. By using sina, we know she is hugging her own children.
How do we know to use sina instead of sin or sitt?
The reflexive possessive pronoun has to match the thing being owned, not the owner. Even though there is only one mother, she is hugging multiple children. Because the word barn is plural here, we must use the plural form sina.
Is barn singular or plural here, and how can you tell?
It is plural! The word barn is an ett-word. Short ett-words look exactly the same in the singular (a child) and the indefinite plural (children). We know she is hugging multiple children because the pronoun sina is plural. If she were hugging just one child, the sentence would use the ett-word form: Mamman kramar sitt barn.
Why does the sentence use Mamman instead of just Mamma?