German Possessive Pronouns
Choose the right possessive for every owner, add the correct ending for each case, and say 'mine' or 'yours' with meiner and deins.
Possessives answer 'whose?': mein Handy, deine Tasche, unser Auto. The stem shows the owner.
The ending shows the thing owned: its gender, number and case. The endings are exactly the same as for ein and kein.
Pick the stem: who owns it?
Each personal pronoun has its own possessive stem. Sie (formal) and sie (they) share ihr, but the formal one is capitalised.
One owner
- ichmein
- dudein
- ersein
- sieihr
- essein
More owners / formal
- wirunser
- ihreuer
- sie (they)ihr
- Sie (formal)Ihr
Add the ending: like ein and kein
The ending depends on the noun that follows, not on the owner. Here with mein; every other possessive works the same way.
Nominative
- Masculinemein
- Femininemeine
- Neutermein
- Pluralmeine
Accusative
- Masculinemeinen
- Femininemeine
- Neutermein
- Pluralmeine
Dative
- Masculinemeinem
- Femininemeiner
- Neutermeinem
- Pluralmeinen
Genitive
- Masculinemeines
- Femininemeiner
- Neutermeines
- Pluralmeiner
Am Wochenende besuche ich meinen Onkel.
At the weekend I'm visiting my uncle.
Sie wohnt noch bei ihren Eltern.
She still lives with her parents.
Sein or ihr?
- Male owner (or neuter): sein.
- Female owner: ihr.
- The ending still follows the thing owned.
Anna ruft ihren Bruder an.
Anna is calling her brother.
Tom besucht seine Oma im Krankenhaus.
Tom is visiting his grandma in hospital.
Euer loses an e
When euer takes an ending, the second e usually drops: eure, euren, eurem. Unser keeps its e: unsere, unseren.
Ist das eure Katze?
Is that your cat?
Wir feiern mit unseren Freunden.
We're celebrating with our friends.
Standing alone: meiner, meine, meins
Without a noun, the possessive means 'mine', 'yours' and so on. Masculine and neuter then need an ending too.
'Mine' (nominative)
- Masculinemeiner
- Femininemeine
- Neutermeins
- Pluralmeine
Ist das dein Schlüssel? – Ja, das ist meiner.
Is that your key? – Yes, it's mine.
Mein Handy ist leer. Kann ich deins benutzen?
My phone is dead. Can I use yours?
Common mistakes
✗
Ich besuche mein Bruder.✓ Ich besuche meinen Bruder.
Masculine accusative needs -en: meinen.
✗
Maria und sein Mann✓ Maria und ihr Mann
A female owner takes ihr, whatever the noun's gender.
✗
Das ist nicht mein, das ist dein.✓ Das ist nicht meins, das ist deins.
Standing alone, the possessive needs an ending.
Questions learners ask
What is the difference between sein and ihr?
Sein is used when the owner is male or neuter, ihr when the owner is female or plural. The ending then matches the thing owned.
Why is it meinen and not mein?
Meinen is the accusative masculine form. It's used when a masculine noun like Bruder or Hund is the direct object.
How do you say 'mine' in German?
Use the possessive with an ending that matches the noun: meiner (der), meine (die), meins (das), meine (plural).