Breakdown of Han gav bort sin gamla cykel.
han
he
cykeln
the bicycle
gammal
old
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
ge bort
to give away
Questions & Answers about Han gav bort sin gamla cykel.
Why use sin here instead of hans?
Because sin is a reflexive possessive pronoun that refers back to the subject of the same clause (han). If you used hans, it would mean he gave away another man's bicycle!
Is bort necessary, or could I just say Han gav sin gamla cykel?
You need bort here. Ge bort is a particle verb meaning 'to give away' (permanently, as a gift or donation). Without bort, the verb ge just means 'to give' and sounds incomplete because it normally expects an indirect object showing who received the item.
Why is the adjective gamla instead of gammal?
Adjectives following a possessive pronoun (like sin) must take the definite or 'weak' form, which ends in -a. It doesn't matter that the bicycle is singular and an 'en' word; the possessive pronoun forces the -a ending.
Since the adjective is definite (gamla), why isn't the noun definite too (cykeln)?
Possessive pronouns like sin require the noun to remain in the indefinite form (cykel). This is a common trap! You only use the definite noun if you are using the freestanding definite article, as in den gamla cykeln.
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