Possession After a Noun

Level 6

Relationship: en vän till min bror. Authorship: en tavla av Picasso. One owned item among several: en av min brors bilar. Do not copy English “of my brother’s” as till min brors.

How It Works

English can combine an indefinite noun with an “of ...’s” phrase, as in “a friend of my brother’s”. Swedish normally expresses these meanings with other constructions. A preposition is not a signal to add genitive -s.

People and Relationships
Use till followed by an ordinary noun phrase or object pronoun with relationship nouns: en vän till min bror, en kollega till min pappa, en kusin till henne. These phrases can introduce one friend, colleague, or cousin without making the noun definite. Compare the ordinary prenominal genitive, min brors vän: it does not take a separate indefinite article before or after min brors. The noun form remains vän, not vännen.

Authorship and Source
With a work and its creator, use av: en tavla av Picasso (a painting by Picasso), en berättelse av min mormor (a story by my grandmother). A recording can similarly be en inspelning av Evert Taube, though context may be needed to distinguish a recording made by him from one featuring him. Av is not a universal equivalent of English possessive “of”: a bicycle owned by your brother is not normally en cykel av min bror.

One of Someone’s Things
Use en/ett av plus a plural possessive noun phrase: en av min brors bilar (one of my brother’s cars), ett av företagets förslag (one of the company’s proposals). With a possessive pronoun, say en av dina cyklar or en av dina if bicycles are understood. Do not invent mins or dins. The possessive pronoun agrees with the noun inside that plural phrase.

Choose the Intended Relation
En cykel till dig ordinarily means a bicycle for you, not a bicycle you already own. Likewise, en idé till min chef can mean an idea for my boss. For the boss’s own idea, use en av min chefs idéer or en idé som min chef har. The meaning of the head noun and preposition determines the relation; till is not a general ownership marker.

Examples (5)

  1. Jag träffade en kollega till min pappa på konferensen.

    I met a colleague of my dad's at the conference.

    Word by Word: I met a colleague to my dad at the conference.

    The relationship noun kollega takes till min pappa, without an added genitive ending.

  2. Det där är en tavla av Picasso från hans tidiga period.

    That is a painting of Picasso's from his early period.

    Word by Word: That there is a painting by Picasso from his early period.

    Av Picasso identifies the artist. English “of Picasso’s” does not require a Swedish -s after the preposition.

  3. Är det där en av dina gamla cyklar?

    Is that one of your old bicycles?

    Word by Word: Is that there one of your old bicycles?

    En av selects one member of dina gamla cyklar. En cykel till dig would instead usually mean a bicycle intended for you.

  4. Hon berättade en rolig historia som hennes mormor hade berättat.

    She told a funny story that her grandmother had told.

    Word by Word: She told a funny story that her grandmother had told.

    The relative clause states the intended source explicitly. A bare English-style till sin mormors cannot express this relation.

  5. Vi lyssnade på en inspelning av Evert Taube.

    We listened to a recording of Evert Taube's.

    Word by Word: We listened to a recording of/by Evert Taube.

    Av Evert Taube can identify the performer or creator in context. It does not simply establish legal ownership of a particular recording.

Common Mistakes

  • Combining an indefinite article with a prenominal genitive.

    Jag såg min systers en vän igår.
    Jag såg en vän till min syster igår.

    Use the relationship phrase en vän till min syster. The alternative min systers vän has no separate indefinite article.

  • Copying English possessive -s after till.

    Jag träffade en kollega till min pappas.
    Jag träffade en kollega till min pappa.

    Here till is followed by the noun phrase naming the father, without genitive -s. This sentence means a colleague of my father’s, not a colleague of something else left unspoken.

  • Using a possessive form instead of an object pronoun for the person.

    Det är en kusin till hennes.
    Det är en kusin till henne.

    For “a cousin of hers”, use object pronoun henne after till. A possessive such as hennes requires a different structure with an expressed or contextually omitted possessed noun.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Possession After a NounLevel 6

Learn This First

To understand the double genitive (e.g., 'en vän till min brors'), you first need to be comfortable with how Swedish marks possession using the -s suffix and possessive pronouns. You also need to understand how the preposition 'till' functions, as it acts as the bridge between the indefinite noun and the possessor in this specific idiomatic structure.