Die Possessivpronomen

• Possessive pronouns (Possessivpronomen) indicate ownership or relationship between people or things.
• They have different forms depending on gender (Masculine, Feminine, Neuter), number (Singular, Plural), and case (Kasus).
• Unlike possessive articles (Possessivartikel), possessive pronouns can stand alone without a noun.

---

1. Difference between possessive pronouns and possessive articles

🔹 Possessive articles (Possessivartikel)

Possessive articles always accompany a noun.
They decline like adjectives that follow a definite article (der, die, das).

Examples:

• Das ist mein Buch.
  (This is my book.)

• Ich suche meine Tasche.
  (I am looking for my bag.)

---

🔹 Possessive pronouns (Possessivpronomen)

Possessive pronouns replace a noun to avoid repetition.
They are declined according to the gender and case of the noun they replace.

Examples:

• Das ist mein Buch. (This is my book.) → Das ist meins. (This is mine.)
• Ich suche meine Tasche. (I am looking for my bag.) → Ich suche meine. (I am looking for mine.)

Note:

• Possessive articles always accompany a noun.
• Possessive pronouns can stand alone.

---

2. Declension of possessive pronouns

📌 Possessive pronouns change according to the gender, number, and case of the noun they replace.

Person	Nominative (Subject)	Accusative (Direct Object)	Dative (Indirect Object)	Genitive (Possessive Case)
Ich	meiner / meins	meinen / meins	meinem / meiner	meines / meiner
Du	deiner / deins	deinen / deins	deinem / deiner	deines / deiner
Er	seiner / seins	seinen / seins	seinem / seiner	seines / seiner
Sie (she)	ihrer / ihrs	ihren / ihrs	ihrem / ihrer	ihres / ihrer
Es	seiner / seins	seinen / seins	seinem / seiner	seines / seiner
Wir	unserer / unsers	unseren / unsers	unserem / unserer	unseres / unserer
Ihr	eurer / euers	euren / euers	eurem / eurer	eures / eurer
Sie (they, formal you)	ihrer / ihrs	ihren / ihrs	ihrem / ihrer	ihres / ihrer

---

🔹 Examples of possessive pronouns in different cases

Nominative (Subject):

• Mein Auto ist rot. (My car is red.)
• Meins ist rot. (Mine is red.)

Accusative (Direct Object):

• Ich sehe dein Buch. (I see your book.)
• Ich sehe deins. (I see yours.)

Dative (Indirect Object):

• Ich gebe meiner Schwester mein Buch. (I give my sister my book.)
• Ich gebe ihr meins. (I give her mine.)

Genitive (Possessive Case):

• Das ist das Haus meines Bruders. (That is my brother’s house.)
• Das ist meines. (That is mine.)

Note:

• When the noun is fully replaced, the neuter form usually takes -s.
• In spoken language, the neuter nominative and plural forms are most commonly used.

---

3. Usage of possessive pronouns

📌 Possessive pronouns can replace nouns to avoid repetition.

Example:

• Ist das dein Auto? (Is that your car?)
• Ja, das ist meins. (Yes, that’s mine.)

📌 Possessive pronouns can be used in questions:

Example:

• Wem gehört dieses Handy? (Whose phone is this?)
• Es ist meins. (It’s mine.)

📌 Possessive pronouns can emphasize ownership:

Example:

• Meins ist größer als deins. (Mine is bigger than yours.)

📌 They can express ownership in a more formal way:

Example:

• Das ist das Seine. (That is his.)
• Das ist das Ihre. (That is yours / theirs (formal).)

📌 When there is no noun, possessive pronouns often go with "das" or a definite article:

Example:

• Ich nehme das Meine. (I’ll take mine.)

📌 Possessive pronouns can be used in exclamations:

Example:

• Das ist ja wirklich deins! (That really is yours!)

---

🎯 4. Summary of key points

not

• Possessive articles always accompany a noun; possessive pronouns can stand alone.
• Possessive pronouns change according to gender, number, and case of the replaced noun.
• Neuter and plural forms often add -s in the possessive pronoun.
• Possessive pronouns help avoid repetition and make sentences more concise.