Breakdown of Han köper alltid likadana souvenirer till sina föräldrar.
han
he
alltid
always
köpa
to buy
till
to (direction, destination)
föräldern
the parent
sina
his/her/its/their own (plural)
likadana
identical (plural)
souveniren
the souvenir
Questions & Answers about Han köper alltid likadana souvenirer till sina föräldrar.
Why is the word for identical written as likadana here?
Because it must agree with the plural noun it describes, which is souvenirer (souvenirs). You use likadan for singular en-words, likadant for singular ett-words, and likadana for all plural words.
Why does the sentence use sina instead of hans for his parents?
Sina is a reflexive possessive pronoun that refers back to the subject of the sentence. It translates to his own in this context. If you used hans (his) here, it would mean he is buying souvenirs for some other guy's parents! Since föräldrar is plural, we use the plural form sina.
Could I use för instead of till to say he buys them for his parents?
No, when you buy, give, or send a physical object to a recipient, Swedish uses till. You would use för if you were doing a favor in someone's place, like buying the souvenirs on their behalf because they couldn't go to the shop.
Why is the word order köper alltid (buys always) instead of the other way around?
Swedish main clauses strictly follow the V2 rule, meaning the verb (köper) must be in the second position. The subject (Han) takes the first position, so the sentence adverb (alltid) has to be placed after the verb.
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