Breakdown of Mannen fäller sitt träd eftersom det skymmer hennes fönster.
det
it (neuter)
mannen
the man
fönstret
the window
trädet
the tree
hennes
her (possessive)
sitt
his/her/its/their own (ett-word)
eftersom
since, because
fälla
to cut down
skymma
to obscure
Questions & Answers about Mannen fäller sitt träd eftersom det skymmer hennes fönster.
Why do we use sitt instead of hans for 'his tree'?
In Swedish, when a possessive word refers back to the subject of the same clause, we must use the reflexive possessive (sin, sitt, or sina). Since the man (Mannen) is the subject doing the cutting, and it is his own tree, we use sitt. If we used hans, it would mean he is cutting down some other man's tree.
Why is it sitt and not sin here?
The word träd (tree) is an ett-word (ett träd). The reflexive possessive has to match the gender of the noun being owned, not the owner. Because he owns an ett-word, we use the ett-form sitt.
Why does the second part say hennes instead of sin for 'her window'?
This is the trickiest part of reflexive possessives! They always point back to the subject of their own clause. In the second clause (eftersom det skymmer hennes fönster), the subject is det (the tree). Since the window belongs to a woman and not to the tree, we must use the regular possessive hennes.
Is the verb fäller related to the English word 'fell'?
Yes! Fäller translates to 'fells' or 'cuts down'. It is a verb that means 'to cause to fall', closely related to the Swedish verb faller (falls). So when the man fäller the tree, he is literally making it fall.
Why doesn't the subordinate clause (eftersom det skymmer...) have a different word order?
Subordinate clauses do have a special rule (often called the BIFF-rule) where small adverbs like inte jump in front of the verb. However, because there is no inte or similar adverb in this clause, the subject (det) is simply followed directly by the verb (skymmer), which looks exactly like regular main clause word order.
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