Explanation
What are Possessive Articles?
Possessive articles (Possessivartikel) are used to show ownership or relationship between a person and a noun. In English, these are words like 'my', 'your', 'his', or 'her'. In German, the possessive article replaces the definite article (der/die/das) or the indefinite article (ein/eine) before a noun.
Choosing the Right Base Word
To pick the correct possessive article, you first look at the person who 'possesses' the object. If I am talking about something I own, I use the base mein. If I am talking to you about something you own, I use dein. For a man (er) or a neuter object (es), we use sein, and for a woman (sie), we use ihr.
Matching Gender and Case
Just like the word 'ein', possessive articles must match the gender of the noun they precede. For feminine nouns and plural nouns, we add an -e (e.g., 'meine Wohnung'). In the Nominative case (subject), masculine and neuter nouns take no ending (e.g., 'mein Sohn'). However, in the Accusative case (direct object), masculine nouns take the ending -en (e.g., 'Ich besuche meinen Freund').
Reference Tables
| Person | Masculine (der) | Feminine (die) | Neuter (das) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich (I) | mein | meine | mein |
| du (you) | dein | deine | dein |
| er / es (he/it) | sein | seine | sein |
| sie (she) | ihr | ihre | ihr |
| wir (we) | unser | unsere | unser |
| ihr (you all) | euer | eure | euer |
| sie / Sie (they/You) | ihr / Ihr | ihre / Ihre | ihr / Ihr |
Examples
Mein Sohn geht zur Schule.
My son goes to school.
Was ist dein Beruf?
What is your profession?
Ihre Wohnung ist sehr schön.
Her apartment is very beautiful.
Ich besuche meinen Freund im Büro.
I am visiting my friend in the office.
Das Kind liebt sein Tier.
The child loves its animal.
Common Mistakes
Wohnung is a feminine noun (die Wohnung), so the possessive article needs an -e ending.
In the Accusative case, masculine nouns (der Sohn) require the possessive article to end in -en.
If the owner is female (sie), the base word must be 'ihr', not 'sein'.