German Possessive Pronouns (Das Possessivpronomen)
Understanding German possessive pronouns (Das Possessivpronomen) is essential for conveying ownership or belonging in conversation and writing. These pronouns change their form based on the gender, case, and number of the noun they are related to. This guide will provide an overview of the declension of German possessive pronouns in all four cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive.
Understanding the Possessive Pronouns?
A possessive pronoun is used to express ownership or possession. For example, ‘mine’ is a possessive pronoun in the sentence, ‘I noticed that John’s car was smaller than mine.’ The word ‘mine’ indicates that the car belongs to me, replacing the noun phrase ‘my car.’
It’s important to distinguish between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns. Possessive adjectives describe and modify a preceding noun and indicate ownership, whereas possessive pronouns replace a noun or a noun phrase. The main purpose of using possessive pronouns is to avoid repetition. For example:
- Possessive Adjectives
- 🇩🇪 Das ist mein Auto.
- 🇺🇸 This is my car.
- Possessive Pronouns
- 🇩🇪 Das ist meins. (das Auto)
- 🇺🇸 This is mine.
Possessive pronouns in German replace the noun entirely, whereas possessive adjectives precede the noun and act like adjectives.
German Possessive Pronouns in Nominative Case
The form of German possessive pronouns is influenced by the case, number of the noun (plurals) and gender of the noun they are modifying. There are four cases in German: “nominative“, “accusative“, “dative“, and “genitive“, and each case comes with its own set of endings for possessive adjectives. We will begin our exploration with the nominative case.
Table 1.1 below displays the German possessive pronouns in their base form for the nominative case:
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mine | meiner | meine | meins | meine |
| yours | deiner | deine | deins | deine |
| his | seiner | seine | seins | seine |
| hers | ihrer | ihre | ihres | ihre |
| its | seiner | seine | seins | seine |
| ours | unserer | unsere | unseres | unsere |
| yours | eurer | eure | eures | eure |
| theirs | ihrer | ihre | ihres | ihre |
| yours (formal) | Ihrer | Ihre | Ihres | Ihre |
❗Remember: Possessive adjectives are used in conjunction with a noun (e.g., my book), whereas possessive pronouns are used in place of nouns (e.g., the book is mine). Refer to Table 1.2 for more examples:
| Word | Adjective | Pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| das Buch the book | mein Buch my book | meins mine |
| die Katze the cat | deine Katze your cat | deine yours |
| der Hund the dog | sein Hund his dog | seiner his |
🇩🇪 Unsere Wohnung ist heller als ihre.
🇺🇸 Our apartment is brighter than theirs.
🇩🇪 Mein Auto ist schneller als deins.
🇺🇸 My car is faster than yours.
🇩🇪 Ihr Buch ist interessanter als unseres.
🇺🇸 Your book is more interesting than ours.
🇩🇪 Mein Handy ist neuer als seins.
🇺🇸 My mobile phone is newer than his.
🇩🇪 Das ist nicht dein Stift, das ist meiner.
🇺🇸 That’s not your pen, it’s mine.
🇩🇪 Deine Ideen sind besser als unsere.
🇺🇸 Your ideas are better than ours.
🇩🇪 Das sind nicht ihre Schuhe, das sind meine.
🇺🇸 Those are not her shoes; they are mine.
German Possessive Pronouns in All Case
In German, the form of a possessive pronoun changes according to the case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) of the noun it is replacing. This is different from English, where possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs) remain the same regardless of the case or gender of the noun.
The table below (Table 1.3) shows the possessive pronouns in all four cases:
| Cases | 🇺🇸 | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs yours | meiner deiner seiner ihrer seiner unserer eurer ihrer Ihrer | meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre | meins deins seins ihres seins unseres eures ihres Ihres | meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre |
| Accusative | mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs yours | meinen deinen seinen ihren seinen unseren euren ihren Ihren | meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre | meins deins seins ihres seins unseres eures ihres Ihres | meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure ihre Ihre |
| Dative | mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs yours | meinem deinem seinem ihrem seinem unserem eurem ihrem Ihrem | meiner deiner seiner ihrer seiner unserer eurer ihrer Ihrer | meinem deinem seinem ihrem seinem unserem eurem ihrem Ihrem | meinen deinen seinen ihren seinen unseren euren ihren Ihren |
| Genitive | mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs yours | 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 |
❗ Please note that for the neuter and feminine gender in the nominative and accusative case, as well as for the plural in all cases, the forms of the possessive pronouns are the same as the possessive adjectives. Also, for masculine and neuter in genitive, it is “es” at the end, not just “s”.