Today we’re going to talk about possessive adjectives. Some English examples include: MY, YOUR or THEIR. In German we have two separate forms: one for masculine and neuter gender and one for feminine gender.
The Forms of Possessive Adjectives
Let’s start with the forms of possessive adjectives. Here they are in nominative case:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | NEUTER | PLURAL | |
| mein Tisch | meine Lampe | mein Haus | meine Tische, Lampen, Häuser | my table(s), lamp(s), house(s) |
| dein Tisch | deine Lampe | dein Haus | deine Tische, Lampen, Häuser | your table(s), lamp(s), house(s) (informal) |
| sein Tisch | seine Lampe | sein Haus | seine Tische, Lampen, Häuser | his table(s), lamp(s), house(s) |
| ihr Tisch | ihre Lampe | ihr Haus | ihre Tische, Lampen, Häuser | her table(s), lamp(s), house(s) |
| sein Tisch | seine Lampe | sein Haus | seine Tische, Lampen, Häuser | its table(s), lamp(s), house(s) |
| unser Tisch | unsere Lampe | unser Haus | unsere Tische, Lampen, Häuser | our table(s), lamp(s), house(s) |
| euer Tisch | eure Lampe | euer Haus | eure Tische, Lampen, Häuser | your table(s), lamp(s), house(s) |
| ihr Tisch | ihre Lampe | ihr Haus | ihre Tische, Lampen, Häuser | their table(s), lamp(s), house(s) |
| Ihr Tisch | Ihre Lampe | Ihr Haus | Ihre Tische, Lampen, Häuser | your table(s), lamp(s), house(s) (formal) |
Examples
We can use possessive adjectives to describe ownership or relationship. Here are some examples:
| Das ist mein Stuhl. | This is my chair. |
| Das ist seine Tochter. | This is his daughter. |
| Das ist unser Vater. | This is our father. |
| Eure Kinder sind klein. | Your children are small. |
| Wie ist Ihr Haus? | What is your house like? (formal) |
| Was ist dein Vater von Beruf? | What is your father? What’s your father’s job? (informal) |
| Sein Nachbar arbeitet hier. | His neighbor works here. |
| Eure Nachbarin spricht deutsch. | Your neighbor speaks German. |
| Sein Hund bewegt sich schnell. | His dog is moving fast. |
Ambiguities
Some forms are ambiguous. Their meaning depends on the context. Have a look at the following sentence:
Ihr Freund heißt Albert.
This could mean:
Her friend’s name is Albert.
or
Your friend’s name is Albert. (formal)
or
Their friend’s name is Albert.