The Possessive Pronouns in German

By Siddhi Ghale
January 27, 2025
German Language

The Possessive Pronouns in German

Learn about The Possessive Pronouns in German to express ownership clearly. Master their forms, usage, and rules to improve your German grammar skills!

What are the Possessive Pronouns in the Nominative Case?

Possessive pronouns are words that show ownership or possession and, in the nominative case, they describe the subject of a sentence. They change their endings depending on the gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and number (singular, plural) of the noun they describe.

Forms of Possessive Pronouns

First Person Singular (ich – my)

Masculine: mein

Feminine: meine

Neuter: mein

Plural: meine

Second Person Singular (du – your)

Masculine: dein

Feminine: deine

Neuter: dein

Plural: deine

Third Person Singular (er – his / sie – her / es – its)

Masculine: sein (his), ihr (her), sein (its)

Feminine: seine (his), ihre (her), seine (its)

Neuter: sein (his), ihr (her), sein (its)

Plural: seine (his), ihre (her), seine (its)

First Person Plural (wir – our)

Masculine: unser

Feminine: unsere

Neuter: unser

Plural: unsere

Second Person Plural (ihr – your)

Masculine: euer

Feminine: eure

Neuter: euer

Plural: eure

Third Person Plural (sie – their) and Formal “You” (Sie – your)

Masculine: ihr (their/your)

Feminine: ihre (their/your)

Neuter: ihr (their/your)

Plural: ihre (their/your)

Endings of Possessive Pronouns

For masculine and neuter nouns: No additional ending in the nominative case (e.g., mein Hund – my dog, dein Buch – your book).

For feminine and plural nouns: Add -e at the end (e.g., meine Katze – my cat, meine Bücher – my books).

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Examples in Sentences

First Person Singular:

Mein Hund ist groß. (My dog is big.)

Meine Katze ist klein. (My cat is small.)

Mein Haus ist alt. (My house is old.)

Meine Freunde sind nett. (My friends are nice.)

Second Person Singular:

Dein Bruder ist lustig. (Your brother is funny.)

Deine Schwester ist freundlich. (Your sister is friendly.)

Dein Auto ist schnell. (Your car is fast.)

Deine Schuhe sind neu. (Your shoes are new.)

Third Person Singular:

Sein Vater ist stark. (His father is strong.)

Ihre Mutter ist klug. (Her mother is smart.)

Sein Fahrrad ist kaputt. (Its bicycle is broken.)

Ihre Bücher sind interessant. (Her books are interesting.)

First Person Plural:

Unser Lehrer ist nett. (Our teacher is nice.)

Unsere Schule ist groß. (Our school is big.)

Unser Auto ist blau. (Our car is blue.)

Unsere Freunde sind hier. (Our friends are here.)

Second Person Plural:

Euer Hund ist laut. (Your dog is loud.)

Eure Katze ist süß. (Your cat is cute.)

Euer Haus ist schön. (Your house is beautiful.)

Eure Kinder sind freundlich. (Your children are friendly.)

Third Person Plural / Formal “You”:

Ihr Sohn ist intelligent. (Their son is intelligent.)

Ihre Tochter ist talentiert. (Your daughter is talented.)

Ihr Zimmer ist sauber. (Their room is clean.)

Ihre Freunde sind nett. (Your friends are nice.)

Key Points to Remember

The possessive pronoun agrees with the noun it modifies, not the owner.

(Meine Katze – feminine ending because of “Katze,” not because of the speaker.)

The nominative case is used when the noun is the subject of the sentence.

For masculine and neuter nouns, the possessive pronoun in the nominative case has no additional ending, but for feminine and plural nouns, you must add -e.

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