German Possessive Adjectives (Possessive Adjektive)

Possessive adjectives, also known as possessive determiners, indicate ownership or association. In both German and English, possessive adjectives are essential components of everyday language. This lesson will guide you through the use of possessive adjectives in German.

Understanding Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns in German

Before diving into German possessive adjectives, it’s important to understand the difference between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.

• Possessive Adjectives: These are used with a noun to show that one person or thing belongs to another. They describe and modify the preceding noun, indicating ownership. For example, in the sentence “Das ist mein Auto” (This is my car), “mein” is the possessive adjective modifying “Auto” (car).
• Possessive Pronouns: These replace a noun or a noun phrase to avoid repetition and still indicate ownership. For example, in the sentence “Das ist meins” (This is mine), “meins” is the possessive pronoun replacing “das Auto” (the car).

❗Remember, possessive adjectives are used before a noun (e.g., my book), while possessive pronouns replace nouns (e.g., the book is mine).

German Possessive Adjectives

German possessive adjectives change their form based on the case and gender of the noun they modify. There are four cases in German: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. Each case has a different set of endings for possessive adjectives, and understanding these changes is key to using them correctly.

Let’s start by examining the nominative case.

The base forms of German possessive adjectives in the nominative case can be seen in Table 1.1.

🇺🇸	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
my	🔊 mein	🔊 meine	🔊 mein	🔊 meine
your	🔊 dein	🔊 deine	🔊 dein	🔊 deine
his	🔊 sein	🔊 seine	🔊 sein	🔊 seine
her	🔊 ihr	🔊 ihre	🔊 ihr	🔊 ihre
its	🔊 sein	🔊 seine	🔊 sein	🔊 seine
our	🔊 unser	🔊 unsere	🔊 unser	🔊 unsere
your	🔊 euer	🔊 eure	🔊 euer	🔊 eure
their	🔊 ihr	🔊 ihre	🔊 ihr	🔊 ihre
Your	🔊 Ihr	🔊 Ihre	🔊 Ihr	🔊 Ihre

❗Note: Always capitalize the formal ‘You/Your’ (Sie/Ihr) and change ‘euer’ to ‘eure’ before a plural noun.

🇩🇪 Mein Vater ist Arzt.
🇺🇸 My father is a doctor.
🇩🇪 Dein Bruder spielt Fußball.
🇺🇸 Your brother plays football.
🇩🇪 Sein Haus ist groß.
🇺🇸 His house is big.
🇩🇪 Ihre Schwester ist schön.
🇺🇸 Her sister is beautiful.
🇩🇪 Unser Garten ist schön.
🇺🇸 Our garden is beautiful.
🇩🇪 Euer Hund ist laut.
🇺🇸 Your dog is loud.
🇩🇪 Ihr Buch ist interessant.
🇺🇸 Their book is interesting.
🇩🇪 Ihr Lehrer ist streng.
🇺🇸 Your (formal) teacher is strict.

German Possessive Adjectives in All Case

In German, the form of a possessive adjective changes according to the case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) of the noun it modifies. This is different from English, where possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) remain the same regardless of the case or gender of the noun.

The table below (Table 1.2) shows the possessive adjectives in all four cases:

Cases	🇺🇸	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	my your his her its our your their Your	mein dein sein ihr sein unser euer ihr Ihr	meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre	mein dein sein ihr sein unser euer ihr Ihr	meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre
Accusative	my your his her its our your their Your	meinen deinen seinen ihren seinen unseren eueren ihren Ihren	meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre	mein dein sein ihr sein unser euer ihr Ihr	meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre
Dative	my your his her its our your their Your	meinem deinem seinem ihrem seinem unserem euerem ihrem Ihrem	meiner deiner seiner ihrer seiner unserer eurer ihrer Ihrer	meinem deinem seinem ihrem seinem unserem euerem ihrem Ihrem	meinen deinen seinen ihren seinen unseren euren ihren Ihren
Genitive	my your his her its our your their Your	meines deines seines ihres seines unseres eueres ihres Ihres	meiner deiner seiner ihrer seiner unserer eurer ihrer Ihrer	meines deines seines ihres seines unseres eures ihres Ihres	meiner deiner seiner ihrer seiner unserer eurer ihrer Ihrer

❗Note that “euer” has a slightly irregular declension: