Breakdown of Vi ber projektledaren att skriva om sin budget.
vi
we
att
to
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
budgeten
the budget
be
to ask for, to request
projektledaren
the project manager
skriva om
to rewrite
Questions & Answers about Vi ber projektledaren att skriva om sin budget.
Wait, the main subject is vi. Why does the sentence use sin if the budget belongs to the project manager?
Normally, sin refers back to the grammatical subject of the sentence. However, this sentence contains an infinitive clause (att skriva om...). The logical subject of that infinitive action (the person doing the rewriting) is projektledaren, which is the object of the main clause. In Swedish, when an object performs the action of an infinitive clause, sin refers to that object.
What would the sentence mean if we used hans or hennes instead of sin?
It would completely change the meaning! If you said Vi ber projektledaren att skriva om hans budget, it would mean you are asking the project manager to rewrite someone else's budget (some other man's). Using sin is required to show that the project manager is rewriting their own budget.
Doesn't skriva om mean 'write about'? How can we tell it means 'rewrite' here?
Skriva om can mean both! When it means 'rewrite', it acts as a phrasal verb, and in spoken Swedish, you put the stress heavily on the particle om. When it means 'write about', the stress is on the verb skriva. In written Swedish, you just have to rely on context, and rewriting a budget makes the most sense here.
Why do we use sin rather than sitt or sina for the word budget?
Because budget is an en-word (en budget). Even though it is an English loanword, it takes common gender in Swedish, so you must use sin to match it. If the project manager were rewriting multiple budgets, you would use the plural form sina budgetar.
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