Breakdown of Eleven glömde sin penna.
pennan
the pen
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
glömma
to forget
eleven
the pupil (at school)
Questions & Answers about Eleven glömde sin penna.
The English translation says 'their pen'. Why don't we use deras here?
In English, 'their' is often used as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. But in Swedish, because the subject (eleven) is doing something to their own pen, we must use the reflexive pronoun sin. If you used deras, it would mean the pupil forgot a pen belonging to a group of other people!
How do I know whether to use sin, sitt, or sina?
The form you choose depends on the thing being owned, not the owner. Since penna is a singular en-word (en penna), we use sin. If the pupil forgot an ett-word like ett suddgummi (an eraser), it would be sitt suddgummi, and if they forgot multiple pens, it would be sina pennor.
Is glömde a regular past tense verb?
Yes! The dictionary form is glömma (to forget). It is a regular Group 2 verb, meaning you drop the final -a from the infinitive and add -de to make it past tense (glömde).
Could I use sin if the pen was the subject of the sentence, like 'Their pen is lost'?
No, sin (as well as sitt and sina) can never be the subject of a sentence. It can only appear later in the sentence, pointing back to the subject. To say 'Their pen is lost', you would have to use hans penna, hennes penna, or deras penna depending on who the pupil is.
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