Tom och hans bror klipper vanligtvis varandras hår.

English Translation

Tom and his brother usually cut each other’s hair.

Why not sin instead of hans?

It’s because “Tom och hans bror” is the subject of the sentence. Cf. “Tom klipper håret på sin bror.”

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Thank you very much!

After having given this some more thought, I think I need to amend my explanation; I am after all not a trained grammarian.

The ultimate reason why “Tom och sin bror” doesn’t work, is because of och, which puts Tom and “hans bror” on an equal footing. Therefore you say “Jag träffade Tom och hans bror”, which is contrary to my first response.

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English Translation

Tom and his brother usually cut each other’s hair.

Got it, thanks very much again

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