Sometimes, German can be a tough
language. This is also true when it comes to possessive pronouns. Possessive
pronouns are the parts of speech, which indicate that something or someone
belongs to something or someone else. For example, you can say:
“This is my brother.” – “Das ist mein
Bruder.”
“This is your book.” – “Das ist dein
Buch.”
“These are our shoes.” – “Das sind
unsere Schuhe.”
Unlike English, German possessive pronouns
change their endings dependent on the grammar case of the noun to which they
refer. In my last entry I discussed possessive pronouns in the nominative case.
Now, let’s take a step forward and have a look at German possessive pronouns in
the genitive case, also know as possessive case or second case.
Table: German
possessive pronouns in the genitive case
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st person
|
meines / meiner / meines (my)
|
unseres / unserer / unseres (our)
|
2nd person
|
deines / deiner / deines (your; informal)
|
eures / eurer / eures (your; informal)
|
Ihres / Ihrer / Ihres (your; formal)
|
Ihres / Ihrer / Ihres (your; formal)
|
|
3rd person
|
seines / seiner / seines (his)
|
ihres / ihrer / ihres (their)
|
ihres / ihrer / ihres (her)
|
||
seines / seiner /seines (its)
|
I admit that it could possibly be a bit
confusing when you study the table, since I highlighted the different forms
(endings) in different colors: blue = masculine;
red = feminine; green
= neuter.
Firstly, you need to know to whom you
would like to refer. Are you talking about yourself (my – mein), about yourself
and simultaneously about others (our – unser), about your immediate
counterpart(s) (your – dein – informal singular / euer – informal plural/ Ihr –
formal singular and plural), or about completely other people, for example, a
male person (his – sein), a female person (her – ihr), a neuter person (its –
sein), or a group of people (their – ihr).
Secondly, you need to know the gender
of the object of your sentence, i.e. the possessor of the thing you are talking
about, in order to attach the correct ending to the possessive pronoun you have
already chosen. This could be a “(male) friend” (der Freund), a
“(female) friend” (die Freundin) or a “child” (das Kind).
In sum, the correct form of the
possessive pronoun is always the result of the grammatical person (my; your;
his; her; its; our; their) plus the appropriate grammatical gender ending of
the possessor.
Here are some examples:
der Freund (male friend) – masculine noun
Das ist der Schlüssel meines Freundes. – This
is my friend’s key.
Das ist die Tasche deines Freundes. / Das
ist die Tasche Ihres Freundes. – This is your friend’s bag.
Das ist das Auto seines Freundes. – This
is his friend’s car.
Das ist der Name ihres Freundes. – This
is her boyfriend’s name.
Die Freundin (female friend) – feminine noun
Das ist der Mantel meiner Freundin. – This is my friend’s coat.
Das ist das Handy deiner Freundin. / Das ist das Handy Ihrer Freundin. –
This is your friend’s cellphone.
Das ist die Telefonnummer seiner Freundin. – This is his girlfriend’s telephone
number.
Das ist die Uhr ihrer Freundin. – This is her friend’s watch.
Das Kind (child) – neuter noun
Das ist das Spielzeug meines Kindes. – This
is my child’s toy.
Das ist die Schultasche deines Kindes. / Das
ist die Schultasche Ihres Kindes. – This is your child’s schoolbag.
Das ist der Name seines Kindes. – This
is his child’s name.
Das ist die Puppe ihres Kindes. – This
is her child’s doll.
More sentences:
Das ist die Pfeife unseres Großvaters. – This
is the pipe of grandfather. (der Großvater)
Das sind die Spielsachen unseres Kindes. – These
are the toys of our child. (das Kind)
Das sind die Bücher eures/Ihres Vaters. – This is your father’s book.
Das sind die Bücher eurer/Ihrer Mutter. – This
is your mother’s book.
Das sind die Spielsachen eures/Ihres Kindes. – These are you child’s toys.
Das ist die Tasche ihres Lehrers. – This is
the bag of their (male) teacher.
Das ist die Tasche ihrer Lehrerin. – This is the bag of their (female)
teacher.
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