Two decisions in one word
In English, his never changes: his car, his flat, his brother. German splits the job. The stem comes from the owner. The ending comes from the thing owned: its gender, its number and its job in the sentence.
Stem from the owner, ending from the thing owned
One owner, three things
Das ist sein Auto.
That's his car.
das Auto: no ending
Das ist seine Wohnung.
That's his flat.
die Wohnung: ending -e
Ich kenne seinen Bruder.
I know his brother.
der Bruder as object: ending -en
The stems: who owns it?
Owner and stem
| Owner | Stem | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | mein- | my | mein Hund |
| du | dein- | your (informal) | dein Hund |
| er / es | sein- | his / its | sein Hund |
| sie (she) | ihr- | her | ihr Hund |
| wir | unser- | our | unser Hund |
| ihr (you all) | euer- | your (informal, several) | euer Hund |
| sie (they) | ihr- | their | ihr Hund |
| Sie (formal) | Ihr- | your (formal) | Ihr Hund |
ihr- means her and their; formal Ihr- (your) has a capital I.
Peter und seine Schwester
Peter and his sister
Anna und ihr Bruder
Anna and her brother
Wie ist Ihr Name, bitte?
What's your name, please?
formal, to a stranger
The endings: what is owned?
Possessives take the same endings as ein and kein. Only a masculine object adds a visible -en. Unlike ein, they also have a plural: meine Kinder, unsere Nachbarn.
mein- in the Nominativ and Akkusativ
| Thing owned | Nominativ (subject) | Akkusativ (object) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine: der Hund | mein | meinen |
| feminine: die Katze | meine | meine |
| neuter: das Kind | mein | mein |
| plural: die Kinder | meine | meine |
Mein Vater arbeitet in Hamburg.
My father works in Hamburg.
Meine Mutter kocht gern.
My mother likes cooking.
Meine Eltern wohnen in Wien.
My parents live in Vienna.
Ich suche meinen Schlüssel.
I'm looking for my key.
der Schlüssel as object
euer loses its middle e before an ending: euer Haus, but eure Wohnung, euren Hund. unser keeps it: unsere Wohnung.
