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🪞 Norwegian grammar: Sin/si/sitt/sine and reflexive verbs — rule, table and examples
Level B1
The rule
Sin/si/sitt/sine means “one’s own” when the owner is the third-person subject: “Kari ringer broren sin” (her own brother), but “Kari ringer broren hennes” (another woman’s brother). Reflexive verbs take seg/meg/deg/oss: “Jeg gleder meg”, “Vi setter oss”.
Table
| Norwegian | English |
|---|---|
| Kari ringer broren sin. | Kari calls her (own) brother. |
| Kari ringer broren hennes. | Kari calls her (someone else’s) brother. |
| jeg gleder meg | I look forward |
| han setter seg | he sits down |
| vi skynder oss | we hurry |
Examples
- Leo leter etter ballen sin.
Leo is looking for his ball. - Vi gleder oss til ferien.
We are looking forward to the holiday.
Try it yourself
1. Leo leter etter ballen ____. (Leos egen)
hans · seg · sin · sitt
Show the answer
Answer: sin
2. Mia vasker huset ____. (Mias eget)
hennes · sin · sine · sitt
Show the answer
Answer: sitt
3. Nora og Leo besøker bestemoren ____. (deres egen)
dem · deres · sin · sine
Show the answer
Answer: sin
4. Humphrey snakker med barna ____. (hans egne)
hans · sin · sine · sitt
Show the answer
Answer: sine
5. Leo er borte. Mia leter etter sykkelen ____. (Leos)
ham · hans · seg · sin
Show the answer
Answer: hans
6. Jeg gleder ____ til jul.
deg · meg · min · seg
Show the answer
Answer: meg
More grammar topics
FAQ
How does “Sin/si/sitt/sine and reflexive verbs” work in Norwegian?
Sin/si/sitt/sine means “one’s own” when the owner is the third-person subject: “Kari ringer broren sin” (her own brother), but “Kari ringer broren hennes” (another woman’s brother). Reflexive verbs take seg/meg/deg/oss: “Jeg gleder meg”, “Vi setter oss”.
How can I practise “Sin/si/sitt/sine and reflexive verbs”?
Open the free exercise in Komiks·Lab: 11 fill-in-the-gap tasks with instant feedback, and comics where the rule is used in real dialogues.