The ability to change perspectives when we talk with one another is one of the most awesome characteristics of humans. That is, when a speaker uses the word “I” in his or her statements we automatically know that this person is talking of him- or herself and not of one of us.
Memorizing German personal pronouns is easy. But what about possessive pronouns? Well, this is a little bit trickier because there are different forms for each person, depending on the case and gender of the noun you use. Let’s have a look at the different forms of German possessive pronouns in the nominative case.
Table: German possessive pronouns in the nominative case
|
Singular |
Plural |
| 1st person |
mein / meine / mein (my) |
unser / unsere / unser (our) |
| 2nd person |
dein / deine / dein (your; informal) |
euer / eure / euer (your; informal) |
| Ihr / Ihre / Ihr (your; formal) |
Ihr / Ihre / Ihr (your; formal) |
| 3rd person |
sein / seine / sein (his) |
ihr / ihre / ihr (their) |
| ihr / ihre / ihr (her) |
| sein / seine / sein (its) |
The forms in blue and green are used when you refer to a masculine or neuter noun. The forms in red are used when you refer to a feminine noun. Following you can find some example sentences:
der Löffel (spoon) – masculine noun
Das ist mein Löffel. – This is my spoon.
Das ist dein Löffel. / Das ist Ihr Löffel. – This is your spoon.
Das ist sein Löffel. – This is his spoon.
Das ist ihr Löffel. – This is her spoon.
die Tasche (bag) – feminine noun
Das ist meine Tasche. – This is my bag.
Das ist deine Tasche. / Das ist Ihre Tasche. – This is your bag.
Das ist seine Tasche. – This is his bag.
Das ist ihre Tasche. – This is her bag.
das Buch (book) – neuter noun
Das ist mein Buch. – This is my book.
Das ist dein Buch. / Das ist Ihr Buch. – This is your book.
Das ist sein Buch. – This is his book.
Das ist ihr Buch. – This is her book.
der Plan (plan) – masculine noun
Das ist unser Plan. – This is our plan.
Das ist euer Plan. / Das ist Ihr Plan. – This is your plan.
Das ist ihr Plan. – This is their plan.
die Angelegenheit (business) – feminine noun
Das ist unsere Angelegenheit. – This is our business.
Das ist eure Angelegenheit. / Das ist Ihre Angelegenheit. – This is your business.
Das ist ihre Angelegenheit. – This is their business.
das Auto (car) – neuter noun
Das ist unser Auto. – This is our car.
Das ist euer Auto. / Das ist Ihr Auto. – This is your car.
Das ist ihr Auto. – This is their car.
Comments:
ibrahim:
thank you but iam sorry to say that germany is difficult language
Bill Ellis:
Sandra:
I am studying German for the second time. I studied it when I was an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in the 1980s. Now I am studying it again to help me with my study of the postal history of Pomerania (Vorpommern und Hinterpommern). Greifswald is one of the important cities of Vorpommern. How was it, studying at one of the oldest universities in Germany (and in Europe)?
I need help with possessive pronouns in the dative and accusative case, especially using “your” (plural, informal) in front of masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural nouns.
Bill Ellis
Rebecca:
Aren’t all the examples of possesive adjectives and not possesive pronouns?
David:
@Rebecca Yes, in order to form the pronoun you add the correct “er” “e” or “s” t the end and it becomes a prounon.
Tom Cook:
You are quite right Rebecca. None of the above are examples of possessive pronouns They are possessive adjectives.
Missy:
@Tom Cook Knocked my socks off with knoewldge!
Frau Syed:
Euer or eur is the informal plural form of pssessive article. In Dativ you have to use it accoringly, as you have learnt the rule for other articles.
Example: Ich helfe euren kindern (plural).
Wie geht es eurem Bruder (masculine)?
Ich koche eurem kind(neutrum) Gulaschsuppe.
Wir spendieren eurer Schule(feminine)2000 Euro.
Crista:
How can I tell when “ihr” refers to “her” and when it refers to “their”?
Das ist ihr Löffel. – This is her spoon.
Das ist ihre Tasche. – This is her bag.
Das ist ihr Buch. – This is her book.
***How do I know it’s not “their” spoon, “their” bag, “their” book?)
Das ist ihr Plan. – This is their plan.
Das ist ihre Angelegenheit. – This is their business.
Das ist ihr Auto. – This is their car.
***How do I know it’s not “her” plan, “her” business, “her” car?
Cheers.
Tom:
@Crista I have been told that in written German her is with a lower case i (ihr) and their (Ihr), with spoken German it is the same but depends on the context
Petra:
@Crista Normally, a sentence like your examples above would be following/referring back to a previous noun (hence: po noun) rather than appearing out of context, e.g. Meine Tochter isst ihr Fruehstueck. Das ist ihr Loeffel.
And, other than in Tom’s comment, ‘Ihr’ with the upper case first letter only applies when you’re addressing a person with the formal ‘Sie’ (rather than du) in singular/one person or ‘Ihr’ (more than one person, in wich case the possessive pronoun would be Euer (m) or Eure (f).
Germanlerener:
Thanks a lot!!
very Helpful!
SANDRA!!
Keep it up!
sehr gut!
helped me in my examination
Cheers!
Tom:
A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun. As possessive adjectives replace nouns, they are classified as pronouns. For this reason, they are also called possessive pronouns. The term possessive pronoun covers all the pronouns that demonstrate ownership.
Amir:
hello
can we say for example “Ich esse eur Fruhstuck” ?
(I can’t type with ulamuts, sorry).
Sten:
@Amir Hi Amir!
“Ich esse mein Frühstück” would be correct. It is my breakfast, so “mein”! 😉 Or what do you mean with “eur”?
Sandra:
@Amir Hi Amir,
Can say it in English, please? Because “ich” (I) and “euer” (your) don’t go together.
You can say: “Ich esse mein Frühstücke.” But it sounds more naturally when you say: “Ich frühstücke.”, which is the Germany equivalent of “I’m having breakfast.”
Regards,
Sandra 🙂
Jacalyn:
@Amir Essays like this are so important to brnaoenidg people’s horizons.
Brigitte:
You could actually say “Ich esse euer Frühstück”, if you want to tell some other people that you are eating their breakfast.
John F Brunner:
In 2013 Christa asked:
Crista 7 July 2013 at 5:13 am #
How can I tell when “ihr” refers to “her” and when it refers to “their”?
Das ist ihr Löffel. – This is her spoon.
Das ist ihre Tasche. – This is her bag.
Das ist ihr Buch. – This is her book.
***How do I know it’s not “their” spoon, “their” bag, “their” book?)
Das ist ihr Plan. – This is their plan.
Das ist ihre Angelegenheit. – This is their business.
Das ist ihr Auto. – This is their car.
***How do I know it’s not “her” plan, “her” business, “her” car?
Cheers.
I have the same question. I would appreciate an answer or explanation.
John
Soham Bakshi:
This is brilliant.
Thank you so much.
However, if you could please explain and put up a few examples on German Nominative pronouns, I’ll be extremely appreciative.
Thank you.
Soham
Ken:
@Soham Bakshi There are charts that show such things. Consult the chart.
Andrew:
I live in the USA. I was curious about one thing. I took two years of German in high school. When is the word Meinee used instead of just mein/meine? I have been slowly relearning my German and adding to it since I graduated high school. I did spend two weeks in Germany to Hungary and back. That was in A.D. 1997.
Andrew:
I asked an incorrect question on August 15, 2015. When would I use the German word “meiner” instead of mein/meine? I encountered that word and know it means my through a translation application on my iPhone.
Bepsy:
@Andrew Hi, Andrew!
I think you know when to use it depending of the sustantive. Because meiner is used fos neutral sustantives, like Auto, that is car.
Hope it helped!
Jeff:
Hi Crista and John,
“How can I tell when “ihr” refers to “her” and when it refers to “their”?
***How do I know it’s not “their” spoon, “their” bag, “their” book?)
***How do I know it’s not “her” plan, “her” business, “her” car?”
The answer is context. Taken in isolation, “Das ist ihr Plan.” is ambiguous and one needs more information in order to determine whos map it is. But if we’re in a cafe and I point to a group of tourists at the table next to us looking at a map and say “Das ist ihr Plan.”, then the meaning is clear.
Hope that helps.
Mara:
Eure Eltern wohnt in Budapest or Ihren Eltern wohnt in Budapest.
What sentence is corect?
When i should use eure and when ihren?
Sten:
@Mara Eure Eltern wohnen in Budapest. Remember, Eltern is Mehrzahl (plural)!
Eure = your (pl.)
Ihre = her / their (pl.)
angei:
Hallo.. Thanks for this useful article.I am still confuse on how to use some of the modal verb. thanks a lot.. From Philippines
Lubna:
Thnku 4 amazng article !!! German is fun!!
Kohi Noor:
I don’t know how can I say you thanks ………. this is the very clear minds lessons that you put in you’r website ….
thanks alot. …
Kohi Noor:
How can we know about articles in deutsch please help me for das . Der. And die
George:
I am an English teacher currently working in Germany. I have studied German but still need occasional help with possessive pronouns. Thanks for simplifying a complex issue. Most “un-German” of you to do so and much appreciated.
muha:
i have a problem to understand (ihr und ihre und dein ,deine) please is there any way to explian it easy???
Michael:
These are indeed possessive adjectives since they modify the noun that follows; therefore, they are not replacing a noun (which is what a pronoun does!).
If they functioned substantively and replaced a noun, which is what a pronoun does, then they would be possessive pronouns.
Marina:
What about plural?eg. These are my cars?/your cars.. would that be das sind meine Autos?
Dirk:
Ich frage mich gerade warum so viele Menschen deutsch lernen wollen?
Ken:
Greek and German are Indo-European languages and both have M, F, N nouns. English is also an I-E language but doesn’t classify nouns as M, F, N. Hebrew is a Semitic language (so are Arabic and Ethiopic to name two others) and it has M & F nouns. Greek has the N, G, D, A, & Vocative nouns cases the study of which makes German easier for me than it might have been without my study of Greek. I think that if you understand the structure or framework of a language it is then simply a matter of plugging in the different words. It’s like building a house after seeing the plans–that pile of lumber makes more sense. Hebrew adds suffixes to nouns to tell you if it is mine, yours, hers, etc. German is more like English that way with separate words not suffixes. I haven’t studied enough German lately to know if verbs are conjugated like in Hebrew and Greek. The verb is conjugated to tell if the verb action is “I did something” or “you did…one word carries all the information. I just checked and German is like English not like Hebrew and Greek in that it doesn’t combine the verb and pronoun into one word at least not in all situations. Hope that helps someone.