I was sitting together with my friend Sylvia in a coffee shop. We had agreed to work together that day. I was getting down to writing this article, and she was designing graphics for a new client.
“What are you writing about?” she asked.
“About possessive pronouns,” I replied, and a strange grimace appeared on Sylvia’s face.
“Ohh…don’t say any more. I have no idea what that is.”I smiled then, because I thought that the name actually sounds like it’s something complicated, which is not the case at all! Das Possessivpronomen, or possessive pronouns in German, is something you probably came across in your first German lessons and used without even thinking about it – for example, in the sentence Mein Name ist… (My name is…). In this article, I will convince you that Possessivpronomen are not difficult at all, and you probably already know a lot about them!
What are possessive pronouns in German?
Possessive pronouns in German are pronouns that express possession or belonging. They occur before a noun, e.g. mein Hund (my dog). These pronouns vary depending on the person: mein (my), dein (your), sein (his), unser (our), etc. Possessive pronouns in German depend on the type of noun they refer to and the case in which they are used.
Personal pronouns and the corresponding possessive pronoun
In German, for each person there is a corresponding possessive pronoun (except er and es and sie in the singular and plural – for these groups it is the same). Take a look at the table below:
| person | possesive pronoun |
|---|---|
| ich (I) | mein (my) |
| du (you) | dein (your) |
| er (he) | sein (his) |
| sie (she) | ihr (her) |
| es (it) | sein (its) |
| wir (we) | unser (our) |
| ihr (you) | euer (your) |
| sie (they) | ihr (their) |
| Sie (you – cordial) | Ihr (your – cordial) |
How do you conjugate pronouns?
How do possessive pronouns conjugate? As in English, it depends on the case, number and grammatical type of the noun to which they refer. Look at the examples:
| Genitiv | |
| Das ist der Ball meines Kindes | This is my child’s ball |
| Das ist die Jacke meiner Frau | This is my wife’s jacket |
| Das ist das Haus unserer Eltern. | This is the home of our parents. |
| Dativ | |
| Ich spiele mit meinem Kind. | I play with my child. |
| Ich spaziere mit meiner Frau. | I go for a walk with my wife. |
| Sie gehen aus ihrem Haus. | They are leaving their home. |
| Wir wohnen bei unseren Eltern. | We live with our parents. |
| Akkusativ | |
| Das Geschenk ist für mein Kind. | The gift is for my child. |
| Wir gehen ohne unseren Sohn. | We are going without our son. |
| Das ist gegen deine Regeln. | This is against your principles. |
Possessive pronoun without a noun
The possessive pronoun can also be used alone. Then it replaces the noun and receives its generic endings. See the example of the noun der Ball (ball). Ball has the masculine article der, so the personal pronoun will also have the ending –er, e.g. meiner. Take for example the sentence Wem gehört den Ball? (To whom does the ball belong?). We can answer it like this:
| person | pronoun | pronoun + ending | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | mein | Das ist meiner! | It is mine! |
| du | dein | Das ist deiner! | It is yours! |
| er | sein | Das ist seiner! | It is his! |
| sie | ihr | Das ist ihrer! | It is hers! |
| es | sein | Das ist seiner! | It is its! |
| wir | unser | Das ist unserer! | It is ours! |
| ihr | euer | Das ist eurer! | It is yours! |
| sie/Sie | ihr/Ihr | Das ist ihrer/Ihrer! | It is yours! (formal) |
This declension differs from the declension of the possessive preposition with the noun only in the nominative (for the masculine gender – meiner and the neutral gender – meins) and the accusative (for the neutral gender – meins). Here are some more example sentences:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Mein Tag war super. Deiner war schlecht. | My day was great. Yours was bad. |
| Das ist nicht mein Tee, das ist deiner. | It’s not my tea, it’s yours. |
| Ist das dein Auto? – Ja, das ist meins. | Is this your car? – Yes, it’s mine. |
| Ist das die Tasche von Katrin? – Nein, das ist nicht ihre. | Is this Katrin’s bag? – No, it’s not hers. |
| Unser Laptop ist kaputt. Kannst du deinen leihen? | Our laptop is broken. Can you lend us yours? |
| Mein Geburtstag ist am 6. August. Wann ist eurer? | My birthday is August 6. When is yours? |
How to practice possessive pronouns
We use the whole-sentence learning method in the Taalhammer app, and its effectiveness is confirmed by the success of our students. The more sentences you learn, the more fluent you will be in German.
For example, if you memorize the sentence Mein Bruder heißt Erik und meine Schwester heißt Ewa, you will remember that the feminine gender in the nominative takes the ending “-e” and you will use this without stopping to recall the table. Here are more such sentences:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Wie war dein Tag? | How was your day? |
| Mein Tag war gut, und deiner? | My day went well, and yours? |
| Ich spiele mit meiner Schwester. | I play with my sister. |
| Ich gehe mit meinem Hund spazieren. | I go for a walk with my dog. |
| Wie ist Ihr Name? | What is your name, sir? |
| Mein Name ist Maja. | My name is Maja. |
| Wir treffen uns in ihrem Büro. | We meet at her office. |
| Ich und mein Bruder haben einen Hund. Das ist unser Hund. | My brother and I have a dog. This is our dog. |
| Ich habe deinen Kugelschreiber gefunden. | I found your pen. |
| Ihr Auto steht vor unserem Haus. | Her car is parked in front of our house. |
| Der Hund rennt zu seinem Herrchen. | The dog runs to its owner. |
| Habt ihr den Schlüssel zu eurem Auto? | Do you have the keys to your car? |
| Sie trägt den Hut ihrer Schwester. | She wears her sister’s hat. |
| Er spricht mit seinem Freund. | He talks to his friend. |
Learn German with the Taalhammer app
I’ve already mentioned learning the language with whole sentences, but the other essential element needed to achieve language fluency is personalizing the material. You should learn words, phrases and sentences that you use in everyday life. This is important because our mind “doesn’t like” to store information that it doesn’t need.
That’s why we’ve included the ability to add your own content in the Taalhammer app. With the help of our editor, you can create your own sentences, the ones you want to learn. Our editor uses artificial intelligence to help you do this. Start learning with methods that really work! Good luck in learning German!
Exercise
What goes together? Combine questions and answers.
| 1. Ist das eure Katze? | A. Nein, es ist nicht meins. |
| 2. Ist das der Laptop von Paul? | B. Ja, das ist unser Hund. |
| 3. Sind das eure Nachbarn? | C. Nein, das ist nicht unsere. |
| 4. Ist das der Rucksack von Maria? | D. Ja, das ist ihr Rucksack. |
| 5. Ist das euer Hund? | E. Nein, das ist nicht sein Laptop. |
| 6. Sind das die Geschwister von Markus und Laura? | F. Ja, das sind unsere Nachbarn. |
| 7. Gehört das Buch dir? | G. Ja, das sind ihre Geschwister. |
Answer key: 1-C, 2-E, 3-F, 4-D, 5-B, 6-G, 7-A
