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Possessive Adjectives

Spoken Description

Lerne die Gebrauchsanleitung für Possessiv-Adjektive im Deutschen: Formen nach Genus/Numerus, Gebrauch im Satz, Unterscheidung zwischen Possessiv- und Reflexivpronomen, übe mit Beispielen und Übungen.

Learn how to use possessive adjectives in German: position before nouns, agree with the gender, number and case of the noun, contrast with reflexive pronouns, practice with example sentences and exercises.

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Possessive Adjektive zeigen, wem etwas gehört oder mit wem etwas verbunden ist, und im Deutschen stimmen sie im Genus, Numerus und Kasus mit dem Nomen überein, das sie modifizieren. Dieser Leitfaden behandelt die wichtigsten Formen und wie man sie in verschiedenen Kontexten verwendet.

Possessive adjectives show who owns or is associated with something, and in German they agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. This guide goes through the key forms and how to use them in different contexts.

Forms

Possessive adjectives come from small base words like mein (my), dein (your), and sein (his), and they take endings that match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. Here is the pattern for the masculine noun Hund (dog) in the nominative case:
German Word(s)English Word(s)
mein Hundmy dog
dein Hundyour dog
sein Hundhis dog
ihr Hundher dog
unser Hundour dog
euer Hundyour (pl.) dog
ihr Hundtheir dog
Ihr Hundyour (formal) dog
(my) Tasche ist schwer.

My bag is heavy.

Put the correct possessive adjective: (my) ___ Tasche ist schwer.

Gender and Case

The ending of the possessive adjective changes to match the gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular/plural), and grammatical case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) of the noun, not the owner. This means you need to apply the standard adjective endings after the possessive base.
Das ist(your) Bauer.

That is your (sg. informal) farmer.

nominative feminine: das ist ___ Bauer (your singular informal).

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Examples

Plural

Im Plural erhalten possessive Adjektive Endungen für Pluralnomen im jeweiligen Fall, sodass das Muster mit den Regeln der Adjektivdeklination übereinstimmt. Die Basis bleibt gleich, nur die Endungen verändern sich, um Zahl und Fall anzuzeigen.

In the plural, possessive adjectives take endings for plural nouns in the relevant case, so the pattern is consistent with adjective declension rules. The base remains the same and only the endings shift to show number and case.
(our) Schuhe stehen am Tür.

Our shoes are by the door.

plural nominative: ___ Schuhe (our) stehen am Tür.

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Dative

In the dative case, possessive adjectives take the dative endings and an extra -m sometimes appears for masculine and neuter nouns. The dative case affects the article and the possessive adjective alike.
Ich gebe(my) Hund einen Keks.

I give my dog a treat.

dative masculine: Ich gebe ___ Hund (my) einen Keks.

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Genitive

The genitive case shows possession more formally and the possessive adjective takes genitive endings when required. This case is less common in speech but important in writing and when precise ownership is emphasized.
Das Buch(my) Vaters liegt auf dem Tisch.

My father's book is on the table.

genitive masculine: das Buch ___ Vaters (my) liegt auf dem Tisch.

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Summary

Possessive adjectives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify, not with the owner. Learn the base forms (mein, dein, sein, etc.) and practice applying the correct adjective endings for each case so possession is clearly and correctly marked.

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