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The nominative personal pronouns ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie(English equivalents: I, you, he, she, it, we, y’all, they) are listed across the top. Each case is then split into genders: masculine (m), neuter (n), and feminine (f), and plural (pl). You have the 3 cases (nominativ, dativ, akkusativ) on the left-hand side. Usually, possessive pronouns might be learned with an intense chart like this: Thankfully, there’s a chart for that! It will do all the heavy-lifting for you! Conventional Possessive Pronouns Chart I know that that can already sound a little scary - I mean, 6 pronouns x 5 declensions = 30 different possessive pronoun options to choose between. There are 5 possible declensions (-m, -n, -r, -e, -s), so there are 5 ways to say each possessive pronoun, e.g. In English we have just 6 possessive pronouns and done!īut in German, we have 6 ‘root’ (or ‘base’) possessive pronouns that then take little changes (i.e.

#ITRACE PAPER HOW TO#

It’s the how to use a German possessive pronoun that is harder. When to use a German possessive pronoun is very easy: you use them exactly in those same instances that you’d use a possessive pronoun in English. If you’re not already familiar with declensions as part of the German case system, don’t worry! I’m going to walk you through what you need to in the very next section! When & How to Use Personal Pronouns m, -r, -s, -e, -n) that reflect the gender & case of the noun you’re replacing with the possessive pronoun. Note: this is why the German possessive pronouns above are all listed with dashes at the end - those dashes get replaced with different single-letter declensions (e.g. German possessive pronouns must take declensions in order for you to use them! Knowing which meaning of ‘ihr’ is being used - does it mean hers? theirs? Yours?Īfter you have that sorted out, then what you need to know is this:.Knowing which form of ‘you’ to use - informal? formal? singular? plural?.Ihr- (hers / theirs / Yours )Įuer- / eur- (y’alls ) So, here is your ONE set of 6 total possessive pronouns to learn: very nearly identical to German possessive determiners.the very last or very first (

used to indicate possession of non-people.Just as in English, German possessive pronouns are … Now, here is the awesome part: ALL of these points on English possessive pronouns also apply to German possessive pronouns - SWEET! How do possessive pronouns work in German? Usually, a possessive pronoun is the very last (or, less often, the very first) word in a sentence: (Notice how the possessive pronouns and the possessive determiners are nearly identical!) If you want to express possession (<– loosely defined) of people, you need to use a possessive determiner: my, your, his, her, our, and their. But not The grandma / the baby / the husband … is mine. NOTE: Possessive pronouns are used to indicate possession of non-people! The pencil / car / soda / cat / jacket … is mine. That crazy cat is my crazy cat → That crazy cat is mine. Possessive pronouns are used to indicate who owns / possesses whatever noun (or noun phrase) is being replaced: The 6 possessive pronouns in English are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. How do possessive pronouns work in English? There are a lot of pronouns in English, but even more in German - BUT there are just 6 possessive pronouns in both languages! That is totally manageable. That crazy cat with 3 legs and a stumpy tail is my crazy cat with 3 legs and a stumpy tail MINE !Īs you can see, possessive pronouns are shortcuts that save us from needing to repeat ourselves all the time. That crazy cat with 3 legs and a stumpy tail (noun phrase) → it (pronoun)Ī possessive pronoun ( mine, yours, his, hers, ours, or theirs) replaces a noun phrase that also has a possessive determiner (e.g. Maybe read those guides next!)Īs you may know, pronouns (in general) are simple, sweet, widely-used words that replace nouns / noun phrases, no matter how short or long! Maybe you’ve already learned the personal pronouns in the nominative, accusative, and dative.

Why the work you’ve possibly done already to learn declensions will continue paying off!.How to correctly ‘plug’ possessive pronouns into the case system.The better term to use than ‘possessive pronoun’ and why it matters.How noun gender & case impact possessive pronoun usage.The German possessive pronouns for all ‘persons’.

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