Breakdown of Grannen fäller grenen på sin tomt.
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
grannen
the neighbor
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
tomten
the yard
fälla
to cut down
grenen
the branch
Questions & Answers about Grannen fäller grenen på sin tomt.
Why do we use sin here instead of hans?
Sin is a reflexive possessive pronoun. It is used because the lot belongs to the subject of the same clause, which is grannen (the neighbor). If we used hans here, it would mean the neighbor is cutting down a branch on a different person's lot.
What determines whether we use sin, sitt, or sina in this sentence?
The pronoun must agree with the thing being owned, not the owner. Since the word for lot or property is an en-word (en tomt) and it is singular here, we use sin. If it were an ett-word like ett träd (a tree), we would use sitt träd, and for plurals we would use sina.
Is the verb fäller related to faller (to fall)?
Yes, they are a classic verb pair! Faller means falls (the branch falls by itself), while fäller means fells or causes to fall (the neighbor chops it down). Swedish has several verb pairs like this where changing the vowel turns an action happening to a subject into an action a subject does to an object.
Why is it just tomt instead of the definite form tomten?
In Swedish, possessive pronouns like sin, min, or hans already make the noun specific. Because the possessive does that job, the noun that follows must stay in the indefinite form. We say sin tomt, never sin tomten.
Doesn't the word tomt mean empty?
It can! When used as an adjective describing an ett-word, tomt means empty (as in ett tomt glas). However, in this sentence, it is the noun en tomt, which means a plot of land, a property, or a yard.
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