Want to learn German, for free? Check out our online beginners’ German course. German Grammar 109 – Possessive adjectives.
Possessive adjectives are words like “my“, “your“, “her“ and so on which indicate that something belongs to somebody. They are very similar in German and in English.
Here’s an overview, first in English then in German:
I – my
you – your
he – his
she – her
it – its
we – our
you – your
they – their
you – your
ich – mein
du – dein (singular, informal)
er – sein
sie – ihr
es – sein
wir – unser
ihr – euer (plural, informal)
sie – ihr
Sie – Ihr (singular and plural, formal)
Possessive adjectives require endings depending on gender, whether they are singular or plural, and the case of the noun they are linked to.
In the nominative case a simple -e is added when the noun is feminine and/or plural. An exception here is “euer“, which changes to “eure“ when the noun is feminine and/or plural.
Here are some examples of nouns with different genders and in singular and plural forms:
Das ist mein Haus.
That is my house. (“das Haus“ is neuter and singular)
Sind das deine Schwestern?
Are these your sisters? (“Schwestern“ is plural)
Das ist eure Katze.
That is your cat. (“die Katze“ is feminine and singular)
Das ist unser Zug.
That is our train. (“der Zug“ is masculine and singular)
Das ist Ihr Telefon.
That is your telephone. (“das Telefon“ is neuter and sing.)
Das sind unsere Jacken.
That are our jackets. (“Jacken“ is plural)