In "Polisen tillät Agneta att hämta sin väska" (The police let Agneta pick up her bag) "the police" is the subject and Agneta the object of the sentence, but Agneta is the subject in the notion "Agneta hämtar sin väska". (Agneta picks up her bag) at the same time. Then it sounds more natural to use "sin" (her) when talking about Agneta, and not the police. "Lena steg in i rummet och fann konsulten sittande vid sin dator" (Lena stepped into the room and found the consultant sitting by his desk) is unequivocal. The computer belongs to the consultant who is thoughtsubject in the notion "the consultant sits". "Lena steg in i rummet och fann konsulten sittande vid hennes dator" (Lena stepped into the room and found the consultant sitting in front of/by/beside her computer) This sentence is also unequivocal. The computer is Lena's. If you remove the verbal form "sitting" it instantly becomes harder. "Jag steg in i rummet och fann konsulten vid sin dator" (I stepped into the room and found the consultant by his computer) This sentence is still not very problematic. The computer is still the consultant's. "Lena steg in i rummet och fann konsulten vid sin dator" (Lena stepped into the room and found the consultant at his/her computer) This sentence is not unequivocal on the other hand. The computer can be either Lena's or the consultant's. "Lena steg in i rummet och fann konsulten vid hennes dator." (Lena stepped into the room and found the consultant by her computer) In this sentence it's not stated clearly who the computer belongs to, but the most common understanding is that it's Lena's. "Agneta tog fram hennes väska under sängen". (Agneta picked up her bag from under the bed) In English it's "her bag" regardless of whether it's Agneta or another woman that is the owner of the bag. Where I got this information: http://www.personal.psu.edu/adr10/sw3.html http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/spraket/sin-och-hans-svart-aven-for-sprakfolk/

"Finns det någon skillnad mellan orden "hans", "hennes" och "sin"? Om ja, när måste man använda dem?". Swedish possessive pronuns are slighly more complicated than their English counterparts since Swedish has gender. Most possessive pronouns have three forms, one for en-words, one for ett-words, and one for plural words. Example sentences: Han bor i mitt hus. He lives in my house. Har du din penna? Do you have your pen? Vems bok är det? Det är min. Whose book is that? It's mine. Jag går till hans skola idag. I am going to his school today. Hennes man reser till Sverige. Her husband is travelling to Sweden. Sin/Sitt There is one more thing to mention about possessive pronouns, and that is the word sin (ett-form sitt). This is used in place of either hans, hennes, or deras if the possessive pronoun is referring directly back to the subject. Sin/sitt can never appear in the subject. Look at these examples (don't worry if you don't know some vocabulary): We live in his house. ---> Vi bor i hans hus. Their table is in the house. ---> Deras bord är i huset. She and her husband speak English. ---> Hon och hennes man talar engelska. BUT: She sees her husband. ---> Hon ser sin man. He is going to his school. ---> Han går till sin skola. They live with their child. (ett barn) ---> De bor med sitt barn. Note the difference: Hon ser sin man. ---> She sees her (own) husband. Hon ser hennes man. ---> She sees her (some other woman's) husband.