"He lost his fingers in a machine many years ago."

Translation: Han mistede sine fingre i en maskine for mange år siden.

[Rebecca73497]

Why does the Danish say for mange rather than just mange? Doesn't that mean "too many"?

[Slartibartswift]

In this case the for is part of the "for siden" couple, you use before and after a period of time meaning "ago" :)

[niscate]

Please correct me if I'm wrong: at miste means to lose some object or person and at tabe means to lose a game or something. Is this the difference?

[p.kmetski]

Yes, I believe so

[NormanNagy1]

Why is 'hans' incorrect instead of 'sine'?

[Acha16]

Hans would mean some other boy/man's fingers. In this context, since they are his own fingers, only "sine" is correct. For the third person singular, the possessive pronoun is sin/sit/sine if the object belongs to the subject. For example if you say "Han elsker sin søster" you are saying that he loves his own sister. If you say "Han elsker hans søster" you are saying he loves some other man's sister.