Language/German/Grammar/Possessive-Pronouns
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As a German language teacher with 20 years of experience, I can attest that possessive pronouns are an essential aspect of German grammar. They allow us to indicate possession and ownership of people, things, and even concepts in a sentence. In this lesson, we will cover everything you need to know about possessive pronouns, including their forms and usage for different genders and cases.
What are Possessive Pronouns?
Possessive pronouns are a type of pronoun that indicate possession, ownership, or a relationship between a person or thing and an object or concept. Possessive pronouns replace a noun and agree with the gender and case of the noun they are replacing. They are often used in place of a sentence that contains both a subject and a possessive phrase to make the sentence more concise.
For example: - Possessive phrase: "Der Hund des Nachbarn ist groß." (The neighbor's dog is big.) - Using a possessive pronoun: "Sein Hund ist groß." (His dog is big.)
In the second sentence, the possessive pronoun "sein" replaces the entire phrase "des Nachbarn," making it more concise.
Forms of Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns are declined for gender and case, just like articles and adjectives in German. Here are the forms of possessive pronouns in each gender and case:
Masculine Forms
- Nominative Case:
- 'mein' for 'my' - 'dein' for 'your (singular)' - 'sein' for 'his' - 'ihr' for 'her' - 'unser' for 'our' - 'euer' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihr' for 'their'
- Accusative Case
- 'meinen' for 'my' - 'deinen' for 'your (singular)' - 'seinen' for 'his' - 'ihren' for 'her' - 'unseren' for 'our' - 'euren' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihren' for 'their'
- Genitive Case
- 'meines' for 'my' - 'deines' for 'your (singular)' - 'seines' for 'his' - 'ihrer' for 'her' - 'unseres' for 'our' - 'eures' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihrer' for 'their'
Feminine Forms
- Nominative Case:
- 'meine' for 'my' - 'deine' for 'your (singular)' - 'seine' for 'his' - 'ihre' for 'her' - 'unsere' for 'our' - 'eure' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihre' for 'their'
- Accusative Case
- 'meine' for 'my' - 'deine' for 'your (singular)' - 'seine' for 'his' - 'ihre' for 'her' - 'unsere' for 'our' - 'eure' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihre' for 'their'
- Genitive Case
- 'meiner' for 'my' - 'deiner' for 'your (singular)' - 'seiner' for 'his' - 'ihrer' for 'her' - 'unserer' for 'our' - 'eurer' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihrer' for 'their'
Neuter Forms
- Nominative Case:
- 'mein' for 'my' - 'dein' for 'your (singular)' - 'sein' for 'his' - 'ihr' for 'her' - 'unser' for 'our' - 'euer' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihr' for 'their'
- Accusative Case
- 'mein' for 'my' - 'dein' for 'your (singular)' - 'sein' for 'his' - 'ihr' for 'her' - 'unser' for 'our' - 'euer' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihr' for 'their'
- Genitive Case
- 'meines' for 'my' - 'deines' for 'your (singular)' - 'seines' for 'his' - 'ihrer' for 'her' - 'unseres' for 'our' - 'eures' for 'your (plural)' - 'ihrer' for 'their'
Usage of Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns are used to indicate ownership or a close relationship between a person or thing and an object. They replace a noun and agree with the gender and case of the noun they are replacing.
For example: - "Ich trage meinen Hut." (I'm wearing my hat.) - "Er zeigt ihr seinen Hund." (He's showing her his dog.)
In the first sentence, the masculine possessive pronoun "meinen" agrees with the masculine noun "Hut" in the accusative case. In the second sentence, the feminine possessive pronoun "ihren" agrees with the feminine noun "Frau" in the dative case and the masculine possessive pronoun "seinen" agrees with the masculine noun "Hund" in the accusative case.
Exceptions and Special Cases
Like with any rule in German grammar, there are exceptions and special cases to keep in mind when using possessive pronouns.
- When used with nouns that have no article (in particular, plurals and mass nouns), the possessive pronoun takes the article's place. For example: "Wir trinken unseren Wein." (We are drinking our wine.)
- If the possessive pronoun precedes a noun with an article, the article and the possessive pronoun must agree in gender, number, and case. For example: "Die Mädchen und ihre Mutter." (The girls and their mother.)
- In the case of feminine and neuter nouns with the suffix "-lein" or "-chen," the possessive pronoun agrees with the original gender of the noun, not the gender implied by the suffix. For example: "Das Fräulein und ihr Kleid" (The young lady and her dress) uses "ihr" instead of "sein" because "Fräulein" is a feminine noun.
- Possessive pronouns are often used in conjunction with reflexive pronouns to indicate a close relationship between a person and an action performed by or relating to that person. For example: "Er wäscht sich die Hände." (He's washing his hands.) The reflexive pronoun "sich" is used in combination with the masculine possessive pronoun "seine" to indicate that the action is being performed by the same person as the one being referred to.
Practice Examples
To practice using possessive pronouns, try forming sentences with the examples below:
- My mother's car: "Das ist _____ Mutter Auto."
- Our house: "Das ist _____ Haus."
- Her favorite book: "Das ist _____ liebstes Buch."
- Their cats: "Das sind _____ Katzen."
- His dog's tail: "Das ist _____ Hund Schwanz."
Sources