Learn German A1: Possessive Pronouns Lesson 12. Ask-scholars.com has started a series of lessons for German language and all the lessons are free to consume. Ask yourself, why do I want to study German? Remind yourself of the reason. Tell yourself I want to study German. Say it, out loud, right now: I want to study German! It is all a matter of will. You may find yourself one day feeling lazy, your thoughts telling you to relax, to procrastinate. Do not let this happen to you. Do not give in to negativity. If you feel this is happening, remind yourself of why you want to speak German, remind yourself that you want to do this.
Learn German A1: Plurals & Pronunciation Lesson 11
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Table of Contents
Recap of Possessive Adjectives
Possessiva (possessives) are used to show that one thing belongs to another.
We differentiate between “possessive Adjektive” (possessive adjectives) and “Possessivpronomen” (possessive pronouns).
Let’s look at the first kind: Possessive Adjektive.
Possessive adjectives enable us to express who something or someone belongs to.
Their form changes depending on the gender and number of the noun they describe.
| Aim: expressing that something belongs to someone: |
| something: der Lehrer (the teacher) |
| someone: ich (I) |
| expression: Mein Lehrer. (My teacher.) |
The singular possessive adjectives (masculine/feminine) are:
| ich: mein / meine |
| du: dein / deine |
| er: sein / seine |
| sie: ihr/ ihre |
Das ist ihre Freundin. This is her friend.
Mein Vater ist Lehrer. The word in bold expresses who something belongs to.
Here are some examples to show you how possessive adjectives are used. We want to express who the teacher belongs to:
| Noun: die Lehrerin (singular female noun) |
| Meine Lehrerin kommt aus Schweden. (My teacher is from Sweden.) |
| Deine Lehrerin kommt aus Deutschland. (Your teacher is from Germany.) |
| Seine Lehrerin kommt aus Österreich. (His teacher is from Austria.) |
| Ihre Lehrerin kommt aus Spanien. (Her teacher is from Spain.) |
Meine Schwester arbeitet im Krankenhaus. The word in bold expresses who something belongs to.
Hat seine Schwester schwarze Haare? The word in bold expresses who something belongs to.
Learn German A1: hunger & thurst & useful questions Lesson 7
Plural Possessive Adjectives
The plural possessive adjectives are:
| wir: unser / unsere |
| ihr: euer / eu(e)re |
| sie: ihr / ihre |
| Sie: Ihr / Ihre |
Unsere Geschwister sind jung. (Our siblings are young.)
Hat euer Bruder schwarze Haare? (Does your brother have black hair?)
Possessive Pronouns
In the previous two lessons we learned about possessive adjectives. Now we will look at Possessivpronomen (possessive pronouns).
When the person or thing belonging to a possessive adjective has already been mentioned, or is clear within the context, we can replace it with a possessive pronoun.
The examples below show you the difference between the two and can both mean: “This is my book.”
| das Buch (the book) |
| possessive adjective: Das ist mein Buch. |
| possessive pronoun: Das ist meins. |
While, Possessive pronouns express possession quicker and with a stronger emphasis on who the owner is.
We can use possessive pronouns to avoid repeating a nouns multiple times, as they give information on the gender of the nouns and who it belongs to, while possessive adjectives have to be used with the noun.
To form the possessive pronoun, we add a different ending to the possessive adjectives we’ve learned previously, depending on the gender of the noun we want to replace. The feminine form stays the same.
The endings are as follows:
| masculine: -er, for example: deiner (yours) |
| neutral: -s, for example: deins (yours) |
| feminine: -e, for example: deine (yours) |
Das ist meins. (This is mine.) This sentence contains a possessive pronoun.
Remember that the articles of all nouns change to the feminine article “die” in the plural!
We therefore use feminine possessive pronoun to replace plural nouns.
Look at the example with the plural noun “die Autos” (the cars):
| Possessive adjective: Das sind unsere Autos. (These are our cars.) |
| Possessive pronoun: Das sind unsere. (These are ours.) |
Learn German A1 Personal Pronouns & Regular Verbs Lesson 4
More Examples
Das sind meine Schlüssel. – Das sind meine. (Those are my keys. – Those are mine.)
Das ist mein Buch. This sentence does not contain a possessive pronoun. While, It contain a possessive adjective.
Das ist mein Buch. – Das ist meins. (This is my book. – This is mine.) So, this sentence contains both possessive adjective and possessive pronoun respectively.
Ja, das ist meiner! This sentence contains a possessive pronoun.
Ist das euer Computer? – Ist das eurer? (Is that your computer? – Is that yours?)
Das ist sein Portemonnaie. – Das ist seins. (That is his wallet. – That is his.)
Ist das Ihr Auto? – Ist das Ihrs? (Is that your car? Is that yours?)
Das sind unsere Taschen. – Das sind unsere. (Those are our bags. – Those are ours.)
Ist das ihr Fahrrad? – Das ist ihrs. (Is that her bike? – That’s hers.)
Das ist meine Uhr. – Das ist meine. (That is my watch. – That is mine.)
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