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Lesson 7: Possessive pronouns

Vocabulary: Clothing and colors

Completing this lesson will add to your overall progress:

VocabularyA1+4%A2+0.5%
GrammarA1+5%A2+1%

How to work with this lesson

  1. Read the rule — get the logic (5 minutes)
  2. Say it out loud — slowly, consciously, every form
  3. Speed up — run the scales and matrix until the forms fly out

You can say what you do, can, and want. Now learn to say "mine", "yours", "his". Without these — you're handcuffed.

Part 1: What possessive pronouns are

Possessive pronouns answer the question "whose?". Here's the full list:

PronounPossessiveEnglishCognate
ichmeinmy / mine≈ "mine"
dudeinyour / yours (sg.)≈ "thine" (Shakespeare!)
erseinhis
sieihrher
esseinits
wirunserour / ours≈ "ours"
ihreueryour / yours (pl.)
sie (they)ihrtheir
Sie (formal)Ihryour (formal)

Nine words. Looks like a lot, but you'll see — the endings are all the same.

Cognate notes: mein = "mine", dein = "thine" (English's old word for "thy/yours, singular"). unser = "ours" (drop the e). Once again — English used to have all of this, then simplified.

Part 2: The main hack

Possessive pronouns take the SAME endings as ein/eine/ein. If you know ein-words, you already know possessives.

Compare:

MasculineFeminineNeuter
einein Brudereine Schwesterein Kind
meinmein Brudermeine Schwestermein Kind
deindein Bruderdeine Schwesterdein Kind
seinsein Bruderseine Schwestersein Kind

See? Masculine and neuter — no ending. Feminine — ending -e. Just like ein/eine/ein.

This works for ALL possessives. No exceptions.

Word of warning for English speakers: German nouns have gender: masculine (der), feminine (die), neuter (das). English has no gender ("the dog" is the same word whether the dog is male, female, or robot). The possessive ending changes based on the gender of the possessed thing, not the owner. So his sister = seine Schwester (feminine ending -e) because Schwester is feminine. Her brother = ihr Bruder (no ending) because Bruder is masculine.

In English: HER = her, period. In German: ihr / ihre / ihr / ihre depending on what's being owned. Brace yourself.

Part 3: Full table (Nominativ)

MasculineFeminineNeuterPlural
meinmein Vatermeine Muttermein Kindmeine Kinder
deindein Vaterdeine Mutterdein Kinddeine Kinder
seinsein Vaterseine Muttersein Kindseine Kinder
ihrihr Vaterihre Mutterihr Kindihre Kinder
unserunser Vaterunsere Mutterunser Kindunsere Kinder
euereuer Vatereure Muttereuer Kindeure Kinder
ihrihr Vaterihre Mutterihr Kindihre Kinder
IhrIhr VaterIhre MutterIhr KindIhre Kinder

The rule is simple: masculine and neuter — bare form. Feminine and plural — add -e.

Traps

Trap 1: sein vs ihr sein = his (from er). ihr = her (from sie). Beginners mix these up constantly. Anchor: sein — from er (he), ihr — from sie (she). Sein Bruder = his brother. Ihr Bruder = her brother. Get this wrong and you change the meaning. Drill it.

Trap 2: euer drops its -e- When you add the ending -e, the second "e" in euer drops: euer → eure. Correct: eure Mutter. Wrong: euere Mutter. The mouth doesn't like three vowels in a row.

Next up: Lesson 8 — question words: Wer? Was? Wo? Woher? Wie? Wann? — and the rules for asking yes/no questions. The grand finale of Block 1: Survival. After it — the Knappe / Knappin test.

Lesson 7: Possessive pronouns · Deutsch · Glottos Matrix