In German, there are eight adjectives that show possession: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, and ihr. Possessive adjectives agree in number, gender and case with the noun (the thing being possessed) they are describing. Today, we have a closer look at the genitive case declension of these possessive adjectives.

 

In order to decline these possession adjectives, you only have to add an particular ending at the end of their stems, which are:

mein- (my)

dein- (your; informal sgl.)

sein- (his)

ihr- (her)

unser- (our)

euer- (your; informal pl.)

Ihr- (your; formal sgl. and pl.)

 

And the particular ending is always –es for masculine and neuter nouns, and –er for feminin nouns. That results in:

 

Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
meines Mannes	meiner Frau	meines Kindes
(of my husband)	(of my wife)	(of my child)
deines Mannes	deiner Frau	deines Kindes
(of your husband)	(of your wife)	(of your child)
ihres Mannes	ihrer Mutter	ihres Kindes
(of her husband)	(of her mother)	(of her child)
unseres Gärtners	unserer Köchin	unseres Abkommens
(of our gardender)	(of our cook; fem.)	(of our arangement)
eu(e)*res Vaters	eu(e)rer Mutter	eu(e)res Kindes
(of your Vater; pl.)	(of your mother; pl.)	(of your child; pl.)
Ihres Mannes	Ihrer Frau	Ihres Kindes
(of your husband; fml.)	(of your wife; fml.)	(of your child; fml.)

 

* You can choose whether you would like to spell this word as eueres or eures, both are correct. Most Germans usually opt for eures or eurer because it is easier to pronnounce than the other one.

 

As you can see in the table, you also have to add the ending -es to the masculine and/or neuter noun as well. Feminine nouns are usually not declined (with a particular ending) in the genitive case.

 

Example sentences

1. Das ist die Uhr meines Mannes. (That’s my husband’s watch.)

2. Das ist die Tasche meiner Frau. (That’s my wife’s bag.)

3. Das ist das Spielzeug ihres Kindes. (That’s her child’s toy.)

4. Das ist der Chef seines Sohnes. (That’s his son’s boss.)

5. Das ist der Geburtstag eurer Mutter. (That’s your mother’s birthday.)

6. Das ist das Werkzeug eures Vaters. (That are your father’s tools.)