The agreement rule
In English, 'my' is always just 'my'. In Swedish, the possessive changes depending on whether the owned noun is an en-word, ett-word, or plural.
| Person | en-word | ett-word | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | min | mitt | mina |
| your (sing.) | din | ditt | dina |
| his | hans | hans | hans |
| her | hennes | hennes | hennes |
| its (en-word) | dess | dess | dess |
| our | vår | vårt | våra |
| your (plural) | er | ert | era |
| their | deras | deras | deras |
Notice that hans, hennes, and deras DON'T change. Only 1st and 2nd person possessives agree.
Examples of agreement
The possessive matches the owned thing, NOT the owner. A woman still says 'mitt hus' (my house) because hus is an ett-word.
min bok
my book (bok is en-word → min)
mitt hus
my house (hus is ett-word → mitt)
mina barn
my children (plural → mina)
hans bil
his car (hans doesn't change)
Sin/sitt/sina — the reflexive possessive
Swedish has a special reflexive possessive (sin/sitt/sina) used when the owner is the subject of the same clause. This is one of the trickier points of Swedish grammar.
Anna älskar sin hund.
Anna loves her (own) dog.
Anna älskar hennes hund.
Anna loves her (someone else's) dog.
If the possessor is the subject of the clause, use sin/sitt/sina. If it refers to someone else, use hans/hennes/deras.
Practice
Test yourself — 6 quick exercises on this topic.
1 of 6
In 'Anna älskar sin hund' — whose dog is it?