German Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns in German (Possessivpronomen) — such as mein (my), dein (your), and sein (his) — express ownership or relationships. They replace nouns to avoid repetition and show who something belongs to.

While they correspond to English pronouns like "my", "your" or "his" their endings change based on gender, number and case. This article focuses on their forms in the nominative case.

What Are Possessive Pronouns?

These are used to express that something belongs to someone:

Structure: The Root + Ending

Each possessive pronoun has a root and takes an ending depending on:

• Gender (masculine, feminine, neuter)

• Case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive)

• Number (singular/plural)

For example, mein becomes:

• mein Hund (my dog – masc. nom.)

• meine Katze (my cat – fem. nom.)

• mein Haus (my house – neut. nom.)

• meine Freunde (my friends – plural nom.)

Forms of Possessive Pronouns (Nominative)

Singular Nouns Examples

Masculine Noun (e.g. der Hund – the dog):

• Mein Hund ist freundlich. My dog is friendly.

• Dein Hund ist laut. Your dog is loud.

• Sein Hund schläft viel. His dog sleeps a lot.

• Ihr Hund ist draußen. Her dog is outside.

Feminine Noun (e.g. die Katze – the cat):

• Meine Katze ist süß. My cat is cute.

• Deine Katze ist schwarz. Your cat is black.

• Seine Katze mag Milch. His cat likes milk.

• Ihre Katze schläft immer. Her cat always sleeps.

Neuter Noun (e.g. das Kind – the child):

• Mein Kind ist müde. My child is tired.

• Dein Kind ist klug. Your child is smart.

• Sein Kind liest gern. His child likes to read.

• Ihr Kind spielt draußen. Her child is playing outside.

Plural Nouns Examples

• Meine Bücher sind neu. My books are new.

• Deine Bücher liegen auf dem Tisch. Your books are on the table.

• Seine Bücher sind interessant. His books are interesting.

• Ihre Bücher gehören ihr. Her books belong to her.

Practice Tips

To practice pick a noun and ask:

• Who owns it?

• What is its gender/number?

• What case is it in?

Then apply the correct base + ending. See an example below.

Noun: "Buch" (book)

1. Who owns it?
   → Anna owns it → her → German base: ihr-

2. What is its gender/number?
   → das Buch → neuter singular

3. What case is it in?
   → It's the subject of the sentence → nominative

Resulting sentence

Ihr Buch ist interessant. Her book is interesting.