Sometimes, German can be a tough language. This is also true when it comes to possessive pronouns. Possessive pronouns are the parts of speech, which indicate that something or someone belongs to something or someone else. For example, you can say:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my brother.\u201d \u2013 \u201cDas ist mein Bruder.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is your book.\u201d \u2013 \u201cDas ist dein Buch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are our shoes.\u201d \u2013 \u201cDas sind unsere Schuhe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike English, German possessive pronouns change their endings dependent on the grammar case of the noun to which they refer. In my last entry I discussed possessive pronouns in the nominative case. Now, let\u2019s take a step forward and have a look at German possessive pronouns in the genitive case, also know as possessive case or second case.<\/p>\n
| <\/td>\n | Singular<\/strong><\/td>\n| Plural<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 1st<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\n | meines<\/span> \/ meiner<\/span> \/ meines<\/span> (my)<\/td>\n | unseres<\/span> \/ unserer<\/span> \/ unseres<\/span> (our)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 2nd<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\n | deines<\/span> \/ deiner<\/span> \/ deines<\/span> (your; informal)<\/td>\n | eures<\/span> \/ eurer<\/span> \/ eures<\/span> (your; informal)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Ihres<\/span> \/ Ihrer<\/span> \/ Ihres<\/span> (your; formal)<\/td>\n | Ihres<\/span> \/ Ihrer<\/span> \/ Ihres<\/span> (your; formal)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 3rd<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\n | seines<\/span> \/ seiner<\/span> \/ seines<\/span> (his)<\/td>\n | ihres<\/span> \/ ihrer<\/span> \/ ihres<\/span> (their)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ihres<\/span> \/ ihrer<\/span> \/ ihres<\/span> (her)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | seines<\/span> \/ seiner<\/span> \/seines<\/span> (its)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n | <\/p>\n I admit that it could possibly be a bit confusing when you study the table, since I highlighted the different forms (endings) in different colors: blue = masculine<\/span>; red = feminine<\/span>; green = neuter<\/span>.<\/p>\n Firstly, you need to know to whom you would like to refer. Are you talking about yourself (my \u2013 mein), about yourself and simultaneously about others (our \u2013 unser), about your immediate counterpart(s) (your \u2013 dein – informal singular \/ euer – informal plural\/ Ihr – formal singular and plural), or about completely other people, for example, a male person (his \u2013 sein), a female person (her \u2013 ihr), a neuter person (its \u2013 sein), or a group of people (their \u2013 ihr).<\/p>\n Secondly, you need to know the gender of the object of your sentence, i.e. the possessor of the thing you are talking about, in order to attach the correct ending to the possessive pronoun you have already chosen. This could be a \u201c(male) friend\u201d (der<\/strong> Freund), a \u201c(female) friend\u201d (die<\/strong> Freundin) or a \u201cchild\u201d (das<\/strong> Kind).<\/p>\n In sum, the correct form of the possessive pronoun is always the result of the grammatical person (my; your; his; her; its; our; their) plus the appropriate grammatical gender ending of the possessor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are some examples:<\/p>\n der Freund (male friend) \u2013 masculine noun<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Das ist der Schl\u00fcssel meines<\/span> Freundes.<\/span> \u2013 This is my friend\u2019s key.<\/p>\n Das ist die Tasche deines<\/span> Freundes<\/span>. \/ Das ist die Tasche Ihres Freundes. \u2013 This is your friend\u2019s bag.<\/p>\n Das ist\u00a0 das Auto seines<\/span> Freundes<\/span>. \u2013 This is his friend\u2019s car.<\/p>\n Das ist der Name ihres<\/span> Freundes<\/span>. \u2013 This is her boyfriend\u2019s name.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Die Freundin (female friend) – feminine noun<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Das ist der Mantel meiner<\/span> Freundin. \u2013 This is my friend\u2019s coat.<\/p>\n Das ist das Handy deiner<\/span> Freundin. \/ Das ist das Handy Ihrer Freundin. \u2013 This is your friend\u2019s cellphone.<\/p>\n Das ist die Telefonnummer seiner<\/span> Freundin. \u2013 This is his girlfriend\u2019s telephone number.<\/p>\n Das ist die Uhr ihrer<\/span> Freundin. \u2013 This is her friend\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Das Kind (child) \u2013 neuter noun<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Das ist das Spielzeug meines<\/span> Kindes<\/span>. \u2013 This is my child\u2019s toy.<\/p>\n Das ist die Schultasche deines<\/span> Kinde<\/span>s. \/ Das ist die Schultasche Ihres Kindes. \u2013 This is your child\u2019s schoolbag.<\/p>\n Das ist der Name seines<\/span> Kindes<\/span>. \u2013 This is his child\u2019s name.<\/p>\n Das ist die Puppe ihres<\/span> Kindes<\/span>. \u2013 This is her child\u2019s doll.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n More sentences:<\/strong><\/p>\n Das ist die Pfeife unseres<\/span> Gro\u00dfvaters<\/span>. \u2013 This is the pipe of grandfather. (der Gro\u00dfvater)<\/p>\n Das sind die Spielsachen unseres<\/span> Kindes<\/span>. \u2013 These are the toys of our child. (das Kind)<\/p>\n Das sind die B\u00fccher eures<\/span>\/Ihres<\/span> Vaters<\/span>. \u2013 This is your father\u2019s book.<\/p>\n Das sind die B\u00fccher eurer<\/span>\/Ihrer<\/span> Mutter. \u2013 This is your mother\u2019s book.<\/p>\n Das sind die Spielsachen eures<\/span>\/Ihres<\/span> Kindes<\/span>. \u2013 These are you child\u2019s toys.<\/p>\n Das ist die Tasche ihre<\/span>s Lehrers.<\/span> \u2013 This is the bag of their (male) teacher.<\/p>\n Das ist die Tasche ihrer<\/span> Lehrerin. \u2013 This is the bag of their (female) teacher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes, German can be a tough language. This is also true when it comes to possessive pronouns. Possessive pronouns are the parts of speech, which indicate that something or someone belongs to something or someone else. For example, you can say: \u201cThis is my brother.\u201d \u2013 \u201cDas ist mein Bruder.\u201d \u201cThis is your book.\u201d \u2013…<\/p>\n |