evolang.
Browse
About
German · Grammar · A1 to B1

German possessives: mein, meinen, meinem, and the three meanings of ihr

Wem gehört das? Whose is it? 1 · Owner
2 · Thing
3 · Its job in the sentence (case)
Accusative · the direct object Ich suche meinen Hund.
IchIsuchelook-formeinenmyHund.dog
ikh ZOO-khe MAI-nen HUNT · “I’m looking for my dog.” Why: Owner ich → mein. Hund is masculine, accusative: ending -en. Only the masculine changes from nominative to accusative.

Short answer: pick the possessive by the owner (mein my, dein your, sein his, ihr her, unser our, euer your, ihr their, Ihr your formal), then give it the same ending as ein or kein. That ending depends on the gender of the thing owned and its case, the form a word takes for its job in the sentence: mein Hund (subject), meinen Hund (object), mit meinem Hund (after mit).

The endings, with mein

mein, meine, meinen, meinem, meiner, meines

Every possessive takes these endings. Swap mein for dein, sein, ihr or unser and nothing else changes.

Casemasculinefeminineneuterplural
Nominativesubjectmein Hundmeine Katzemein Pferdmeine Kinder
Accusativedirect objectmeinen Hundmeine Katzemein Pferdmeine Kinder
Dativeafter mit, von, zu…meinem Hundmeiner Katzemeinem Pferdmeinen Kindern
Genitive“of”, written stylemeines Hundesmeiner Katzemeines Pferdesmeiner Kinder
Her, their, and your (formal)

ihr, ihr, Ihr

Three owners share one word. A capital letter marks the formal “your”; context separates “her” from “their”. And ihr is also the pronoun “you all”, so read the whole sentence.

ihr = her
DasthatistisihrherFahrrad.bike
das ist eer FAAR-raat · “That’s her bike.”
ihr = their
Die Kinderthe childrenspielenplaymit ihremwith theirHund.dog
dee KIN-der SHPEE-len mit EE-rem HUNT · “The children are playing with their dog.”
Ihr = your (formal)
IstisdasthatIhryourKoffer?suitcase
ist das eer KO-fer · “Is that your suitcase?”
Mine, yours, ours

Das ist meins

Without a noun, the possessive takes the full ending of der, die, das: meiner (m), meine (f), meins (n, in speech), meine (pl).

Wemto-whomgehörtbelongsdas Handy?the phone——Dasthatistismeins.mine
vaym ge-HÖRT das HEN-dee? das ist MAINS · “Whose phone is this? It’s mine.”Neuter: meins (written: meines).
IstisdasthatdeinyourSchlüssel?keyNein,nodas istthat isseiner.his
ist das dain SHLÜ-sel? nain, das ist ZAI-ner · “Is that your key? No, it’s his.”Masculine: seiner, like der.
Unsere Wohnungour flatistiskleiner alssmaller thaneure.yours
UN-ze-re VOH-nung ist KLAI-ner als OY-re · “Our flat is smaller than yours.”Feminine: eure, like die.
Das sindthose arenichtnotdeine Schuhe,your shoesdas sindthose aremeine.mine
das zint nikht DAI-ne SHOO-e, das zint MAI-ne · “Those aren’t your shoes, they’re mine.”Plural: meine.
Fixed phrases

Meiner Meinung nach, Ihr Max

Keep going

Related guides

The four cases →Why meinen, meinem, meiner.DativGender and articles →Der, die, das decides the ending.das PferdFamily vocabulary →Meine Mutter, unser Opa.mein BruderPrepositions →Mit, bei, zu take the dative.mit meinem