Breakdown of Han förbättrar sin svenska genom att öva ofta.
han
he
svenska
Swedish
ofta
often
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
genom att
by
förbättra
to improve
öva
to practice
Questions & Answers about Han förbättrar sin svenska genom att öva ofta.
Why does the Swedish sentence use att öva instead of an '-ing' word for 'practicing'?
Swedish doesn't have an '-ing' form (gerund) like English does. When you want to say 'by doing something' to describe a method, you use genom att followed by the infinitive form of the verb. So, 'by practicing' becomes genom att öva (literally: 'through to practice').
Why do we use sin instead of hans for 'his'?
Because sin is a reflexive possessive pronoun, which means it reflects back to the subject of the sentence. Since 'he' (the subject) is improving his own Swedish, we must use sin. If we used hans, it would mean he is improving some other guy's Swedish!
We are talking about his specific Swedish, so why isn't it the definite form svenskan?
In Swedish, whenever you use a possessive word (like min, din, hans, or sin), the noun that follows must be in the indefinite form. That's why it is sin svenska and never sin svenskan.
Can I put other words between genom, att, and öva?
No, you should keep genom att together as a set phrase meaning 'by doing something'. The infinitive verb (öva) immediately follows it. Any adverbs, like ofta (often), usually come after the verb in this type of phrase.
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