Breakdown of Vännerna lånar ut sina bilar och kollar varandras brevlådor.
och
and
bilen
the car
vännen
the friend
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
Questions & Answers about Vännerna lånar ut sina bilar och kollar varandras brevlådor.
How does varandras work in this sentence?
The word varandra means "each other". By adding an -s to the end, it becomes varandras, which means "each other's". Just like in English, the -s shows possession, telling us whose mailboxes are being checked.
Why does the sentence use sina bilar instead of deras bilar?
We use sina (the plural form of the reflexive possessive pronoun sin/sitt) because the friends are lending out their own cars. If we used deras, it would mean they were lending out cars belonging to some other group of people.
Why are bilar and brevlådor in the indefinite form?
In Swedish, any noun that comes immediately after a possessive word (like sina) or a genitive word (like varandras) must be in the indefinite form. That's why it is varandras brevlådor (each other's mailboxes) and not varandras brevlådorna.
What is the difference between lånar and lånar ut?
By itself, lånar usually means "borrow". When you add the particle ut (out), it creates the phrasal verb lånar ut, which changes the meaning to "lend" (literally "borrow out").