Grammar

The possessive determiner

Revision: the possessive determiner

Ich habe meinen Bruder angerufen. Aber mein Bruder kann nicht kommen.

To express ownership or possession, we use the possessive determiner, rather than the indefinite article.

Here is an overview of the pronouns and their corresponding possessive determiners:

Pronoun Possessive
ich mein
du dein
er/es sein
sie ihr
wir unser
ihr euer
sie ihr
Sie Ihr

 

Revision: declension of the possessive determiner

The ending of the possessive determiner in the singular is identical to the ending of the indefinite article:

  • In the nominative and accusative, the possessive determiner takes the ending -e when it comes before a feminine noun or a plural noun.
  • In the accusative, the possessive determiner takes the ending -en when it comes before a masculine noun.

 

Personal pronoun: ich
Possessive determiner: mein

Nominative Accusative
mein Bruder
meine Schwester
mein Kind
meine Eltern
meinen Bruder
meine Schwester
mein Kind
meine Eltern


masculine:
mein Bruder (Nominative)
meinen Bruder (Accusative)

feminine:
meine Schwester (Nominative and Accusative)

neuter:
mein Kind (Nominative and Accusative)

plural:
meine Eltern (Nominative and Accusative)
 

Personal pronoun: ihr
Possessive determiner: euer

Pay attention to the irregular form of euer and the ending:

Nominative Accusative
euer Bruder
eure Schwester
euer Kind
eure Eltern
euren Bruder
eure Schwester
euer Kind
eure Eltern


masculine:
euer Bruder (Nominative)
euren Bruder (Accusative)

feminine:
eure Schwester (Nominative and Accusative)

neuter:
euer Kind (Nominative and Accusative)

plural:
eure Eltern (Nominative and Accusative)
 

Grammatical terms in German:

der Possessivartikel: The possessive determiner is an article that expresses ownership or possession.