Breakdown of Företagaren har använt sitt eget kapital.
ha
to have
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
använda
to use
företagaren
the entrepreneur
Questions & Answers about Företagaren har använt sitt eget kapital.
Why is it eget here? Shouldn't adjectives after a possessive pronoun end in -a?
Normally, yes! Adjectives usually take the definite form (ending in -a) after a possessive pronoun. However, egen (own) is a famous exception. It ignores the possessive rule and acts like an indefinite adjective, changing only to match the noun's gender and number. Since kapital is an ett-word, egen becomes eget.
Why use sitt instead of hans or hennes?
Sitt is a reflexive possessive pronoun, which means it points back to the subject of the same sentence (Företagaren). If you used hans (his) or hennes (her), it would mean the entrepreneur used a completely different person's capital.
Why is sitt an ett-word form when Företagaren is an en-word?
Possessive pronouns always match the gender and number of the thing being owned, not the owner! Since the owned thing is kapital (an ett-word), the pronoun becomes sitt to match it, regardless of the entrepreneur's grammatical gender.
Why is kapital in the indefinite form here?