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Grannen behöver inte visa sitt bygglov för kvinnans staket.

Grannen behöver inte visa sitt bygglov för kvinnans staket.
The neighbor does not need to show his building permit for the woman's fence.
From Lesson 276:Subject-bound possessives (sin, sitt, sina)·Swedish

Questions & Answers about Grannen behöver inte visa sitt bygglov för kvinnans staket.

Why do we use sitt here instead of hans or hennes?
Sitt is a reflexive possessive pronoun. It is used because the building permit belongs to the subject of the sentence, grannen (the neighbor). If we used hans (his) or hennes (her) here, it would mean the neighbor was showing someone else's building permit!
How do I know whether to use sin, sitt, or sina in this sentence?
The word you choose depends on the noun that is owned. Bygglov (building permit) is an ett-word (ett bygglov), and it is singular. Therefore, we use the ett-word form sitt. If it were an en-word, we would use sin, and for plural items we would use sina.
Why do we say kvinnans staket and not sitt staket?
The reflexive possessive sitt can only refer back to the subject of the sentence, which is grannen. The fence belongs to the woman, not the neighbor. To show that the woman owns the fence, we simply add an -s to the definite noun kvinnan to make it possessive (kvinnans).
Why does inte come after behöver instead of before it?
In a main clause like this, Swedish follows the V2 (verb-second) rule. The conjugated verb behöver must be the second block of information. The negative word inte usually comes immediately after that first conjugated verb.

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