Word
Chefen tar ansvar för sitt beslut.
Meaning
The boss takes responsibility for his decision.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Chefen tar ansvar för sitt beslut.
chefen
the boss
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
beslutet
the decision
ta ansvar för
to take responsibility for
Questions & Answers about Chefen tar ansvar för sitt beslut.
Why use sitt instead of hans or hennes here?
Because the boss is the subject of the sentence and is taking responsibility for their own decision. If you used hans (his) or hennes (her), it would mean the boss is taking responsibility for someone else's decision. We use sitt instead of sin because beslut is an ett-word.
Beslut is an ett-word that looks the same in singular and plural. Could this sentence mean the boss is taking responsibility for his decisions (plural)?
No, because of the pronoun sitt. Even though the noun beslut doesn't change in the plural (ett beslut, flera beslut), the reflexive pronoun does. If it were plural, the sentence would be: Chefen tar ansvar för sina beslut. Since it uses sitt, we know for a fact it is a single decision.
Is the phrase tar ansvar för a direct equivalent to the English idiom?
Yes! Just like in English, Swedish uses the verb tar (takes) with the noun ansvar (responsibility) and the preposition för (for). It's a very common set phrase, and exactly like in English, you don't use an article before the noun (tar ansvar, not tar ett ansvar).