3.5 Sin / si / sitt / sine
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“Sin/si/sitt/sine” is only used when:

1) the clause has a third-person subject (e.g. han, hun, de, gutten, Per)

Example:  Jonas spiser maten sin.  (Jonas is eating his food.)
“Jonas” is a third-person subject.

2) this third-person subject is the “owner” of the object/person

Example:   Arnhild vasker bilen sin. (Arnhild is washing her car.)
“Arnhild”, the third-person subject, is the owner of the car.

3) the object/person “owned” is not part of the subject of the clause

Example:  Petter og moren hans¹ gikk en tur med hunden sin².  (Petter and his mother went for a walk with their dog.)

¹”hans” is part of the subject.  You could not use “sin” here.
²”sin” is not part of the subject.  It refers back to the subject, Petter and his mother.

More Examples:

  1. Joakim og søsteren hans¹ snakker flytende engelsk med mora si².
    (Joakim and his sister speak fluent English with their mother.)

¹”hans” must be used here because it is part of the subject of the clause:  Joakim og søsteren hans.  Sin cannot be used in the subject.
²
“sin” means “their” and refers back to the subject: Joakim og søsteren hans

  1. Yngve sier at søstera hans¹ skulle vaske bilen sin².
    (Yngve says that his sister should wash her car.)

¹”hans” must be used here because it is part of the subject of the subordinate clause beginning with “at”.
²
“sin” refers back to the subject of the clause, the sister.

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