Possessive adjectives show who things belong to and keep speech clear and concise. This brief guide covers the main forms so you can describe possession naturally in everyday contexts.
Forms
In Mandarin, possession is often expressed by adding de (的) after a noun or pronoun to link the owner to the thing owned. Short possessive adjectives like wǒ de (我的) appear when you explicitly name the owner.
Mine
This is mine (a book).
Yours
His / Hers / Its
Ours
Theirs
Usage
Use a possessive adjective (a noun/pronoun + de) before the noun to show ownership. You can sometimes omit the noun if the context makes the meaning clear. Possession can also be shown by other structures like sentences with verbs.
Summary
Possessive adjectives in Mandarin typically use a pronoun or noun followed by de (的) to mark ownership. Learn the key forms for each person so you can quickly say who something belongs to in normal speech.
Last updated: Fri Oct 24, 2025