Learn Swedish: Avataren i sig saknar en egen vilja. - The avatar in itself lacks a will of its own.

Avataren i sig saknar en egen vilja.

The avatar in itself lacks a will of its own.

Breakdown of Avataren i sig saknar en egen vilja.

a, an (common)

sig

oneself / himself / herself / themselves

egen

own

Questions & Answers about Avataren i sig saknar en egen vilja.

Why do we use the reflexive "sig" here for an inanimate object like an avatar?

The phrase i sig means "in itself" or "per se". Swedish uses the third-person reflexive pronoun sig to refer back to the subject of the sentence, regardless of whether that subject is a human, an animal, or an inanimate concept like avataren.

Would "i sig" change if the subject was plural or an ett-word?

No, i sig stays exactly the same for all third-person subjects. Whether it refers to an en-word like avataren, an ett-word like huset (the house), or a plural noun like datorerna (the computers), it is always i sig.

Does the verb "saknar" mean "lacks" or "misses" here?

It means "lacks". The verb sakna can mean both to lack something (like a will or money) and to emotionally miss someone or something. In this context, an avatar emotionally missing a will doesn't make sense, so "lacks" is the correct interpretation.

Why do we say "en egen vilja" instead of just "egen vilja" for "a will of its own"?

In Swedish, vilja (will) acts as a normal countable noun here. You build the phrase just like you would for any other noun with an adjective: the article en plus the adjective egen plus the noun vilja. It translates literally as "an own will".