Possessive Articles: mein, dein, sein
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Learn how German possessive articles express ownership and how their endings depend on case, gender, and number. Practise mein-, dein-, sein-, ihr-, unser-, euer-, and formal Ihr- in everyday sentences.
Explanation
What are possessive articles?
Possessive articles come before a noun and show who something belongs to: mein Schlüssel, ihre Tasche, unser Zimmer. The stem depends on the owner; the ending depends on the following noun and its case.
| Owner | Possessive stem | Example |
|---|
| ich | mein- | mein Kalender |
| du | dein- | deine Jacke |
| er / es | sein- | sein Fahrrad |
| sie (singular) | ihr- | ihre Brille |
| wir | unser- | unsere Wohnung |
| ihr | euer- / eur- | euer Hund, eure Katze |
| sie (plural) | ihr- | ihre Freunde |
| Sie | Ihr- | Ihre Adresse |
Formal Ihr- is capitalized. With euer, the second e normally disappears before an ending: eure, eurem, euren.
Endings
Possessive articles take the same endings as ein.
| Case | masculine | feminine | neuter | plural |
|---|
| Nominative | mein | meine | mein | meine |
| Accusative | meinen | meine | mein | meine |
| Dative | meinem | meiner | meinem | meinen |
| Genitive | meines | meiner | meines | meiner |
The same endings attach to the other stems: deinem Bruder, unserer Nachbarin, Ihren Tickets.
How to choose the form
- Identify the owner and choose the stem: ich → mein-, wir → unser-.
- Identify the noun's gender and number.
- Determine the required case.
- Add the matching ending.
Examples:
- Mein Pass liegt hier. (nominative masculine)
- Ich suche meinen Pass. (accusative masculine)
- Ich reise mit meinem Pass. (dative masculine)
- Die Nummer meines Passes ist unleserlich. (genitive masculine)
- Wir besuchen unsere Freunde. (accusative plural)
- Wir sprechen mit unseren Freunden. (dative plural)
Always check both the owner and the number: Mia sucht ihren Schlüssel. Mia und Leo suchen ihren gemeinsamen Schlüssel means one shared key; sie suchen ihre Schlüssel means several keys.
Exercises
- Match each owner with the correct possessive stem. (6)
- Complete the possessive article in the correct form. Check the owner, case, gender, and number. (11)
- Use the cue to write a complete question. Use the stated form of address and the correct possessive article. (11)
- Complete the connected texts with the correct possessive articles. Each text is a short everyday situation. (4)
A2 · German · Grammar