Possessive Articles in German

Overview

Possessive articles (also called possessive determiners) are words like "my," "your," and "his" that show ownership or belonging. In German, these are mein (my), dein (your, informal), sein (his/its), ihr (her/their), unser (our), euer (your, informal plural), and Ihr (your, formal). Learning them is an essential A1 skill that you will use constantly.

The tricky part about German possessive articles is that they must agree with the noun they modify — not with the owner. This means you need to consider the gender, number, and case of the noun that follows. For example, "his mother" is seine Mutter (feminine ending, even though the owner is male) because Mutter is a feminine noun.

The good news is that possessive articles follow the exact same ending pattern as ein/kein, so if you already know those, you just need to learn the stems.

How It Works

Possessive article stems:

Person	Possessive	English
ich	mein	my
du	dein	your (informal)
er	sein	his
sie	ihr	her
es	sein	its
wir	unser	our
ihr	euer	your (informal plural)
sie	ihr	their
Sie	Ihr	your (formal)

Endings (same as ein/kein):

Gender	Nominative	Accusative
Masculine	mein	meinen
Feminine	meine	meine
Neuter	mein	mein
Plural	meine	meine

Special note about "euer": When an ending is added, the second e is often dropped: euer → eure (not euere), euren (not eueren).

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Das ist mein Buch.	This is my book.	Neuter, nominative
Wo ist deine Tasche?	Where is your bag?	Feminine, nominative
Seine Mutter ist Ärztin.	His mother is a doctor.	Feminine (noun gender, not owner)
Ihre Kinder spielen draußen.	Her children are playing outside.	Plural
Unser Haus ist groß.	Our house is big.	Neuter, nominative
Eure Katze ist süß.	Your (all's) cat is cute.	Feminine, euer → eure
Ist das Ihr Auto?	Is that your car?	Formal, neuter
Ich suche meinen Schlüssel.	I'm looking for my key.	Masculine, accusative
Sie liebt ihren Hund.	She loves her dog.	Masculine, accusative
Wo sind unsere Tickets?	Where are our tickets?	Plural

Common Mistakes

Matching the possessive to the owner instead of the noun

• Wrong: Er liebt sein Mutter. (thinking "his" = masculine)
• Right: Er liebt seine Mutter.
• Why: The ending depends on the noun being modified. Mutter is feminine, so you need the feminine ending: seine.

Confusing "ihr" (her) and "ihr" (their) and "Ihr" (formal your)

• Wrong: Writing ihr Auto without context
• Right: Provide context: Das ist ihr Auto. (her/their car) vs. Das ist Ihr Auto. (your car, formal)
• Why: All three look the same except for capitalization of the formal Ihr. Context and capitalization are your guides.

Forgetting the euer contraction

• Wrong: Euere Wohnung ist schön.
• Right: Eure Wohnung ist schön.
• Why: When euer takes an ending, the inner e drops: euer → eure, euren, eurem, etc.

Practice Tips

1. Describe your surroundings: Point at objects and say who they belong to: "Das ist mein Laptop. Das ist seine Tasse. Das ist unser Tisch."
2. Family tree exercise: Describe family relationships using possessives: "Mein Vater heißt Thomas. Seine Schwester ist meine Tante. Ihre Kinder sind meine Cousins."
3. Gender check habit: Before adding an ending, always check the gender of the noun, not the gender of the owner. Ask: "Is the noun masculine, feminine, neuter, or plural?"

Related Concepts

• Parent: Definite Articles (Nominative) — the article system that possessives build on