Learning German can seem intimidating, but understanding basic grammar rules, such as the use of possessive pronouns, can make the process a lot easier. In this section of our course, we'll dive into possessive pronouns in German.
The possessive pronouns in German are used to indicate ownership or belonging. They agree in gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular, plural) and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) with the noun they accompany, not the possessor. This is different from English, where the possessive pronoun agrees with the possessor.
Let's start with the first person singular, 'ich' (I). The corresponding possessive pronoun is 'mein' (mine). For example, 'mein Buch' (my book). If the noun is feminine, like 'Tasche' (bag), we would say 'meine Tasche'. If the noun is neuter, like 'Auto' (car), we would say 'mein Auto'. If the noun is plural, we use 'meine', no matter what gender the noun is. For example, 'meine Bücher' (my books).
For the second person singular 'du' (you), the corresponding possessive pronoun is 'dein' (yours, yours). For example, 'dein Buch' (thy book). We follow the same gender and number agreement rule as for 'mein'.
For the third person singular, we have 'er' (he), 'sie' (she) and 'es' (it). The corresponding possessive pronouns are 'sein' (his), 'ihr' (her) and 'sein' (his, her, your, yours), respectively. Again, gender and number agreement is done with the noun, not the possessor.
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For the first person plural, 'wir' (we), the possessive pronoun is 'unser' (our). For example, 'unser Haus' (our house). For the second person plural, 'ihr' (you), the possessive pronoun is 'euer' (yours). For example, 'euer Garten' (your garden).
For the third person plural 'sie' (they, they), the possessive pronoun is 'ihr' (their, theirs). For example, 'ihr Hund' (their dog). Finally, for the formal form 'Sie' (you), the possessive pronoun is 'Ihr' (your). For example, 'Ihr Brief' (your letter).
Now, let's talk about cases. So far, we have only used the nominative case. In the accusative case, the masculine possessive pronouns 'mein', 'dein', 'sein', 'ihr', 'unser', 'euer', 'ihr', 'Ihr' change to 'meinen', 'deinen', ' seinen', 'ihren', 'unseren', 'euren', 'ihren', 'Ihren'. Feminine and neuter pronouns and all plural pronouns do not change.
In the dative case, all possessive pronouns add an 'em' at the end, except 'euer', which changes to 'eurem'. For example, 'ich gebe meinem Freund mein Buch' (I give my book to my friend). In the genitive case, all possessive pronouns add an 'es' at the end, except 'euer', which changes to 'eures'. For example, 'das ist das Auto meines Freundes' (that's my friend's car).
We hope this section has helped clarify the use of possessive pronouns in German. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep practicing and you'll soon feel comfortable using possessive pronouns in your German conversations.
