Possessive Pronouns
Learn the German possessive pronouns (mein, dein, sein, etc.) that indicate ownership. Master how they change based on gender, number, and grammatical case.
1Basic Possessive Pronouns
German possessive pronouns indicate who owns or possesses something. Each personal pronoun has a corresponding possessive: ich→mein, du→dein, er→sein, sie→ihr, es→sein, wir→unser, ihr→euer, sie→ihr, Sie→Ihr. The formal "Ihr" is always capitalized. Notice that "sein" is used for both "he" and "it", while "ihr" is used for both "she" and "they". Context makes the meaning clear.
Examples
Das ist mein Buch.
That is my book.
mein = my (ich → mein)
Wo ist dein Auto?
Where is your car?
dein = your (du → dein, informal)
Er liebt seine Arbeit.
He loves his work.
sein = his (er → sein)
Sie besucht ihre Eltern.
She visits her parents.
ihr = her (sie → ihr)
2Agreement with Gender
Possessive pronouns must agree with the gender of the noun they modify, not with the gender of the owner. This is different from English, where we use "his" or "her" based on who owns the item. The endings work like the indefinite article "ein": no ending for masculine and neuter nominative, -e for feminine and plural. This changes in other cases.
Examples
Das ist sein Vater.
That is his father.
sein (no ending) - der Vater is masculine
Das ist seine Mutter.
That is his mother.
seine (-e ending) - die Mutter is feminine
Das ist sein Kind.
That is his child.
sein (no ending) - das Kind is neuter
Das sind seine BĂĽcher.
Those are his books.
seine (-e ending) - plural
3Possessives in Accusative Case
When the noun is a direct object (accusative case), the masculine possessive pronoun adds -en. Feminine, neuter, and plural forms stay the same as nominative. This follows the same pattern as the indefinite article: ein→einen in masculine accusative.
Examples
Ich sehe meinen Bruder.
I see my brother.
meinen (accusative masculine) - den Bruder
Er kennt deine Schwester.
He knows your sister.
deine (accusative feminine) - same as nominative
Sie liest ihr Buch.
She reads her book.
ihr (accusative neuter) - same as nominative
Wir besuchen unsere Freunde.
We visit our friends.
unsere (accusative plural) - same as nominative
4Possessives in Dative Case
The dative case is used for indirect objects and after certain prepositions. All possessives add -em for masculine/neuter, -er for feminine, and -en for plural in the dative case. Remember: dative is about "to/for whom" something is given, shown, told, etc.
Examples
Ich gebe meinem Vater ein Geschenk.
I give my father a gift.
meinem (dative masculine)
Er hilft seiner Mutter.
He helps his mother.
seiner (dative feminine)
Sie zeigt ihrem Kind ein Bild.
She shows her child a picture.
ihrem (dative neuter)
Wir danken unseren Freunden.
We thank our friends.
unseren (dative plural, -en ending)
5Common Expressions with Possessives
Possessive pronouns appear frequently in everyday German expressions. Learning these common phrases helps internalize the correct forms naturally. Note the special form of "euer" (your, plural informal) - when adding endings, the middle 'e' is often dropped: euer→eure, eurem, euren.
Examples
Wie ist Ihr Name?
What is your name? (formal)
Ihr (capitalized) = formal 'your'
Das ist nicht meine Schuld.
That is not my fault.
Common expression with meine
Wie geht es deiner Familie?
How is your family?
deiner (dative feminine)
Zeigt mir eure Tickets.
Show me your tickets.
eure (plural) - euer loses middle 'e'