Possessive Pronouns: meiner, meine, meins
Learn how standalone German possessive pronouns replace a noun that has already been mentioned. Practise forms by owner, case, gender, and number in short answers and questions with gehören.
Explanation
Possessive determiner or possessive pronoun?
A **possessive determiner** comes before a noun: **Das ist mein Regenschirm.**
A **possessive pronoun** replaces the noun and stands alone: **Der Regenschirm ist meiner.** This avoids repetition when the object is already known.
- Ist das dein Fahrrad? - Ja, das ist **meins**.
- Gehört die Jacke Nora? - Ja, das ist **ihre**.
- Sind das eure Tickets? - Ja, das sind **eure**.
Choosing the stem
The stem shows who owns something:
| Owner | Stem |
|---|---|
| ich (I) | mein- |
| du (informal you, singular) | dein- |
| er / es (he / it) | sein- |
| sie (she) | ihr- |
| wir (we) | unser- |
| ihr (informal you, plural) | euer- / eur- |
| sie (they) | ihr- |
| Sie (formal you) | Ihr- |
With **euer-**, the second **e** normally disappears before an ending: **eurer, eure, eures**. Formal **Ihr-** is capitalized.
Endings
The ending depends on the case, gender, and number of the noun being replaced. This table shows the pattern with **mein-**:
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | meiner | meine | meins / meines | meine |
| Accusative | meinen | meine | meins / meines | meine |
| Dative | meinem | meiner | meinem | meinen |
| Genitive | meines | meiner | meines | meiner |
Both **meins** and **meines** are possible in the neuter nominative and accusative; **meins** is especially common in everyday speech.
How to choose the correct form
1. Identify the owner and choose the stem.
2. Recall the noun being replaced: what is its gender or number?
3. Identify the case in the sentence.
4. Add the correct ending.
- **Der Koffer** gehört mir. Er ist **meiner**. (nominative masculine)
- Ich nehme **den roten Koffer**, nicht **deinen**. (accusative masculine)
- Mit **meinem** komme ich gut zurecht. (dative neuter: das Gerät)
- **Die Handschuhe** dort sind **unsere**. (nominative plural)
With **gehören**, the owner is in the dative: **Das Tablet gehört ihr.** In the answer, however, the possessive pronoun agrees with the object it replaces: **Es ist ihres.**
Exercises
- Complete the standalone possessive pronoun. First identify the owner, then the case, gender, or number of the noun being replaced. (11)
- Write a complete question with a possessive pronoun. The possessive pronoun replaces the object that has already been mentioned. (11)
A2 · German · Grammar