Learn German A1 Family & Possessive Pronouns Lesson 9

Learn German A1 Family & Possessive Adjectives Lesson 9

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Learn German A1 Family & Possessive Adjectives Lesson 9. In this post, you’ll find tons of illustrative examples relevant to family. By the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll own German possessive adjectives ” mein” & ”dein”! And all of this gets you one step closer to being a better German speaker and becoming fluent.

Knowing what possessive adjectives are and how to use them is just one way to play by German grammar rules. While It is very important to use the relevant possessive adjective. For example, if you were to describe a masculine object but used the feminine possessive adjective to replace it, you could create lots of confusion.

Learn German A1 Personal Pronouns & Regular Verbs Lesson 4

You will find all the necessary vocabulary here about Family ” Familie. ” While Family is a very important topic when it comes to passing the German A1 exam. Therefore, It is a very important to post for you.

So, all the sentences and vocabulary about family are mixed with two possessive adjectives ” dein ” and ” mein ”. You will get to know about more possessive pronouns & possessive adjectives in future lessons. At the moment, all examples are revolving around ” dein ” and ” mein ” by dealing topic ” family.”

Lastly, There is an essay on ” My Family ” in German for you.

You will notice that many of the German words that refer to family members are similar to their English counterparts. And the formation of terms for subgroups of relatives in German is also often the same as in English.

German vs English: Differences & Similarities

Fertig? Los! (Ready? Go!)

Difference between Possessive Pronouns & Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives – like other adjectives – are used to describe a noun in a sentence. Most importantly – they describe who something belongs to.

Some common possessive adjectives that you will see include, “my”, “your”, “his”, “her” and “our”.

Possessive pronouns can look very similar at first glance to adjectives – but they have a different meaning, and are used in a different way! While they also show ownership, they can be used in place of a noun, to avoid repeating it in a sentence.

Some common possessive pronouns that you might come across include, “mine”, “yours” “his”, “hers”, and “ours”.

Introduction to mein

So, “Mein” is for masculine nouns. “Meine” is for feminine nouns. Meanwhile, Words like “mein” and “meine” are called possessive adjectives. They describe what belongs to whom.

For example, for feminine noun:

1): die Mutter = feminine noun => meine Mutter

meine Mutter: (my mother). While, The “u” is short in ”Mutter” because of the double “t”.

Meine Mutter spricht Spanisch. (My mother speaks Spanish.)

2): die Schwester = feminine noun => eine/meine Schwester

die Schwester: (the sister). You can break the consonant cluster “Schw” down into: Sch + w.

Ich habe eine Schwester. Meine Schwester heißt Huma. (I have a sister. My sister is called Huma.)

Meine Schwester ist Lehrerin. (My sister is a teacher.)

Das sind meine Mutter und meine Schwester. (They are my mother and my sister.)

For example, for masculine noun:

1): der Vater = masculine noun => mein Vater

mein Vater: (my father). While, The V in “Vater” is pronounced like an “F” of English.

Mein Vater spricht Englisch. (My father speaks English.)

2): der Bruder = masculine noun => mein Bruder

Mein Bruder studiert in Barcelona, in Spanien. (My brother studies in Barcelona, in Spain.)

Meine Mutter und mein Bruder sprechen Spanisch. (My mother and my brother speak Spanish.)

For example, for neuter noun:

das Kind = neuter noun => mein Kind

Ich habe ein Kind. Mein Kind heißt Ali. (I have a child. My child is called Ali.)

While, in Learn German A1 Lesson 3, we have described genders of German language. So, below is recap of indefinite article for all three genders:

ein Vater, eine Mutter, ein Kind: (a father, a mother, a child).

die Mutter/eine Mutter (feminine noun); das Kind/ein Kind (neuter noun); der Vater/ein Vater (masculine noun).

Look at the table below and notice how “mein” behaves the same way as “ein“.

ein (a)mein (my)
Masculineein Vatermein Vater
feminineeine Muttermeine Mutter
neuterein Kindmein Kind
Possessive Adjective of ” my ” in German!

Learn German A1: hunger & thurst & useful questions Lesson 7

Introduction to dein

So, “dein” is for masculine nouns. “deine” is for feminine nouns. Meanwhile, Words like “dein” and “deine” are called possessive adjectives. They describe what belongs to whom.

1): der Bruder = masculine noun => dein Bruder

dein Bruder: (your brother)

Was ist dein Bruder von Beruf? (What does your brother do for a living?)

2): die Schwester = feminine noun => deine Schwester

deine Schwester: (your sister).

Wo ist deine Schwester? (Where is your sister?) If you want to say “your sister” in German, you say “deine” because Schwester is a feminine noun.

Look at the table below and notice how “dein” behaves the same way as “ein“.

ein (a)dein (your)
Masculineein Vaterdein Vater
feminineeine Mutterdeine Mutter
neuterein Kinddein Kind
Possessive Adjective of ” your ” in German!

Talking about Parents

Germans call their parents Mama and Papa in the west, or Mutti and Vati in the east.

“Vater” and “Mutter” are parents. While, we call parents in German ” Eltern”.

die Eltern: (the parents).

Note that we use meine / deine for feminine and for plural nouns.

For examples:

Das sind meine Eltern, Usman und Aysha! (They are my parents Usman and Aysha!)

Wo wohnen deine Eltern? (Where do your parents live?)

Meine Eltern wohnen in München. (My parents live in Munich.)

OR, There is another way to say:

Mein Vater und meine Mutter wohnen in Stockholm. (My father and my mother live in Stockholm.)

To present an individual person, we say “das ist” (this is) followed by a name or a description.

For examples:

Das ist mein Vater. (This is my father.)

Das ist meine Mutter. (This is my mother.)

Das ist meine Tochter. Sie heißt Huma. (This is my daughter. She’s called Huma.)

To present more than one persons, we say “das sind” (they are) followed by names or descriptions.

For examples:

Das sind meine Mutter und meine Schwester. (They are my mother and my sister.)

Das sind mein Vater, meine Mutter und mein Kind. (This is my father, my mother, and my child.)

Das sind meine Eltern. (These are my parents.)

In case you’re wondering, we use “sind“, because “meine Eltern” is plural.

Talking about Children

1): die Kinder: (the children)

Annas Mutter hat drei Kinder. (Anna’s mother has three children.)

Meine Kinder sind freundlich. (My children are friendly.)

2): der Enkel: (the grandson) ; die Enkelin: (the granddaughter) ; die Enkelkinder: (the grandchildren)

Ali ist mein Enkel. (Ali is my grandson.)

Das ist meine Enkelin Eveline. (This is my granddaughter Eveline.)

Ich habe drei Enkelkinder: zwei Enkel und eine Enkelin. (I have three grandchildren: two grandsons and one granddaughter.)

Enkel” means grandson. “Kinder” means children. We stick them together to make “Enkelkinder” (grandchildren).

3): die Tochter: (the daughter) ; die Töchter: (the daughters) ; der Sohn: (the son) ; die Söhne: (the sons)

Mein Sohn ist sechs und meine Tochter ist vier Jahre alt. (My son is six and my daughter is four years old.)

So, Here is plural form of ” Sohn ” and ” Tochter. ”

Ich habe zwei Söhne und zwei Töchter. (I have two sons and two daughters.) While, Many nouns get an Umlaut in the plural, e.g. “Söhne” (sons) and “Töchter” (daughters).

More examples:

Ich habe fünf Kinder: zwei Söhne und drei Töchter. (I have five children: two sons and three daughters.)

Die Söhne heißen Max und Moritz. Die Tochter heißt Anna. ( The sons are called Max and Moritz. The daughter is called Anna.)

4): der bruder: (the brother) ; die schwester: (the sister)

Mein Bruder ist drei Jahre alt. (My brother is three years old.)

We use “mein” and “ist” because “Bruder” is singular masculine.

Meine Schwester ist vier Jahre alt. (My sister is four years old.)

To give an age, we use “sein” (to be) + number + “Jahre alt“. While, Verb ” sein ” has been explained in detail in Learn German A1 Conjugation of Irregular Verbs Lesson 5.

Talking about Family Tree

Words like ein or mein have different endings depending on the gender of the noun they’re paired with.

1): die geschwister: (the siblings)

Meine Schwester ist nett. (My sister is nice.)

Mein Bruder ist groß. (My brother is tall.)

Schwester & Bruder are geschwister (siblings) in German!

Meine Geschwister sind klug doch schön. (My siblings are smart yet beautiful.)

Mein Bruder ist Kellner. Er ist sehr freundlich! (My brother is a waiter. He’s very friendly.)

2): der Cousin: (the male cousin) ; die Cousine: (the female cousin)

Ja, du bist mein Cousin. (Yes, You are my cousin.)

Meine Cousine ist sehr klug! (My cousin is very smart.)

3): die Frau: (the woman/wife) ; der Mann: (the man/husband)

Deine Frau ist Ärztin. (Your wife is a doctor.)

Dein Mann ist Lehrer. (Your husband is a teacher.)

4): der Onkel: (the uncle) ; die Tante: (the aunt) ;

We use “Tante” for a parent’s sister. While, We use “Onkel” for a parent’s brother.

Das sind meine Tante und mein Onkel. (These are my aunt and uncle.)

Dein Onkel ist jung. (Your uncle is young.)

Ja, deine Tante ist klug und nett. (Yes, your aunt is smart and nice.)

Meine Tante Rosi ist Verkäuferin. (My aunt Rosi is a sales assistant.)

Meine Mutter hat drei Brüder und eine Schwester. (My mother has three brothers and a sister.)

5): der Neffe: (the nephew) ; die Nichte: (the niece)

Mein Neffe ist schön. (My nephew is beautiful.)

Oh, meine Nichte ist nett. (Oh, my niece is nice.)

6): der Freund: (the male friend, the boyfriend) ; die Freundin: (the female friend, the girlfriend)

Meine Freundin heißt Mari. (My girlfriend name is Mari.)

Ali ist mein Freund. (Ali is my boyfriend.)

Talking about Grandparents

die Großmutter: (the grandmother)

In German, we can stick two or more words together, e.g. “Groß” (grand) and “Mutter” (mother).

Meine Großmutter kommt aus Schweden. (My grandmother is from Sweden.)

der Großvater: (the grandfather)

We spell “groß” with a “ß” because the “o” is long.

Mein Großvater spricht Schwedisch. (My grandfather speaks Swedish.)

Mein Großvater ist lustig. (My grandfather is funny.) While, We pronounce “lustig” like this: lus + tich.

die Großeltern: (the grandparents)

“Großvater” and “Großmutter” are Großeltern.

Many people have nicknames for their grandparents in German:

die Großmutter: Oma, Omi

der Großvater: Opa, Opi

So, we can say “Oma” and “Opa” are nicknames in German for grandmother and grandfather, respectively.

For example:

Hallo Oma, wie geht’s dir und Opa? (Hello Granny, how are you and Grandpa?)

Meine Oma ist sympathisch. (My gran is likeable.)

Essay on The Family ” die Familie ”

meine Familie: my family.

You have no idea how to do write an essay about my family and where to start? Well, I have written an essay about my family in German.

Meine Familie ist eine große Familie. Meine Familie besteht aus zehn Mitgliedern. Wir sind zwei Schwestern und sechs Brüder. Meine Eltern wohnen in Pakistan. Mein Vater ist Lehrer und meine Mutter Hausfrau und sie kocht gerne Fisch. Mein vater arbeitet noch. Wie andere pakistanische Familien sind wir eine große Familie. Meine Familie ist eine vollständige, positive und glückliche Familie. Meine große Schwester arbeitet als Bankerin. Tanten oder Onkel habe ich nicht. Meine andere Schwester studiert Medizin und trägt eine Brille. Mein älterer Bruder ist Geschäftsmann. Mein jüngerer Bruder heißt Usman und ist sehr gut in der Schule. Er ist sehr groß und schlank mit blonden Haaren. Meine anderen Brüder leben in Schweden. Ich mag meine Familie!

Translation of essay:

My family is a big family. My family consists of ten members. We are two sisters and six brothers. My parents live in Pakistan. My father is a teacher and my mother is a housewife and she likes to cook fish. Stiil, My father works. Like other Pakistani families, we are one big family. My family is a complete, positive and happy family. My big sister works as a banker. I have no aunts or uncles. My other sister is studying medicine and wears glasses. My older brother is a businessman. My younger brother’s name is Usman and he’s doing very well at school. He is very tall and slim with blond hair. My other brothers live in Sweden. I like my family!

So, Tell us something about your family. Write at least one sentence.

Lastly, Write your questions about ” Learn German A1 Family & Possessive Pronouns Lesson 9 ” in comment box section.

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