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Possessive pronouns are used to show ownership or possession. They indicate who or what something belongs to. In this chapter, we’ll learn how to use possessive pronouns in German, paying attention to how they change based on the gender and case of the noun they modify.

Basic Possessive Pronouns

Here are the basic possessive pronouns in German, along with their English equivalents:

mein (main) – my

dein (dain) – your (informal, singular)

sein (zain) – his

ihr (eer) – her

sein (zain) – its

unser (oon-zer) – our

euer (oi-er) – your (informal, plural)

ihr (eer) – their

Ihr (eer) – your (formal)

Agreement with Gender and Case

Just like articles, possessive pronouns must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. This means they change their endings depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, neuter, or plural, and whether it’s in the nominative, accusative, or dative case.

Possessive Pronoun Endings

The endings of possessive pronouns are similar to the endings of indefinite articles. Here’s a general guide:

Masculine Nominative: mein Mann (my man) – no ending added

Feminine Nominative: meine Frau (my woman) – add “-e»

Neuter Nominative: mein Kind (my child) – no ending added

Plural Nominative: meine Kinder (my children) – add “-e»

Accusative Case Changes

Masculine Accusative: meinen Mann (my man) – add “-en»

Feminine Accusative: meine Frau (my woman) – add “-e» (same as nominative)

Neuter Accusative: mein Kind (my child) – no ending added (same as nominative)

Plural Accusative: meine Kinder (my children) – add “-e» (same as nominative)

Dative Case Changes

Masculine Dative: meinem Mann (to my man) – add “-em»

Feminine Dative: meiner Frau (to my woman) – add “-er»

Neuter Dative: meinem Kind (to my child) – add “-em»

Plural Dative: meinen Kindern (to my children) – add “-en» (the noun usually takes an -n ending, if it doesn’t already have one)

Examples in Sentences

Nominative:

Mein Bruder ist nett. (main broo-der ist net) – My brother is nice. (Masculine)

Meine Schwester ist klug. (mai-ne shves-ter ist kloog) – My sister is smart. (Feminine)

Mein Haus ist groß. (main haus ist grohs) – My house is big. (Neuter)

Meine Eltern sind freundlich. (mai-ne el-tern zint froint-lihh) – My parents are friendly. (Plural)

Accusative:

Ich sehe meinen Bruder. (ihh zay-e mai-nen broo-der) – I see my brother. (Masculine)

Ich sehe meine Schwester. (ihh zay-e mai-ne shves-ter) – I see my sister. (Feminine)

Ich sehe mein Haus. (ihh zay-e main haus) – I see my house. (Neuter)

Ich sehe meine Eltern. (ihh zay-e mai-ne el-tern) – I see my parents. (Plural)

Dative:

Ich helfe meinem Bruder. (ihh hel-fe mai-nem broo-der) – I help my brother. (Masculine)

Ich helfe meiner Schwester. (ihh hel-fe mai-ner shves-ter) – I help my sister. (Feminine)

Ich helfe meinem Kind. (ihh hel-fe mai-nem kint) – I help my child. (Neuter)

Ich helfe meinen Eltern. (ihh hel-fe mai-nen el-tern) – I help my parents. (Plural)

Using «euer» (your – informal, plural)

The possessive pronoun «euer» has a slight irregularity. Before adding the ending, the «e» is dropped:

Nominative Masculine: euer -> eur -> eurer Bruder (your brother)

Here are the common forms

Masculine: euer -> eurer

Feminine: euer -> eure

Neuter: euer -> eur

Plural: euer -> eure

Word Bank

Possessivpronomen (po-se-zeev-pro-no-men) – Possessive pronoun

mein (main) – my

dein (dain) – your (informal, singular)

sein (zain) – his / its

ihr (eer) – her / their / your (formal)

unser (oon-zer) – our

euer (oi-er) – your (informal, plural)

Bruder (broo-der) – brother

Schwester (shves-ter) – sister

Eltern (el-tern) – parents

Exercises

Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive pronoun and ending:

Das ist ______ (mein) Auto.

Wo ist ______ (dein) Mutter?

Er liebt ______ (ihr) Katze.

Wir besuchen ______ (unser) Großeltern.

Translate the following sentences into German, using possessive pronouns:

This is my book.

Where is your father? (informal, singular)

She loves his dog.

We visit our grandparents.

Is that your house? (formal)

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the nouns with appropriate pronouns (both personal and possessive):

Der Mann liebt seine Frau. (The man loves his wife.)

Die Frau hilft ihrem Kind. (The woman helps her child.)

That completes Chapter 8! You’ve learned how to use possessive pronouns to show ownership and how they change based on gender, number, and case.