Linguamein Bruder, meine Schwester: the possessive articles
mein (my), dein (your, to a friend), sein (his, its) and ihr (her) stand where an article would stand, and they take the endings of ein: nothing with a masculine or neuter word (mein Bruder, mein Kind), -e with a feminine word (meine Schwester). Unlike ein, they also have a plural – again with -e: meine Eltern, deine Brüder.
| Owner | with der, das | with die, plural |
|---|---|---|
| ich | mein Bruder | meine Schwester |
| du | dein Bruder | deine Schwester |
| er, es | sein Bruder | seine Schwester |
| sie | ihr Bruder | ihre Schwester |
Das ist meine Mutter, und das ist mein Vater.This is my mother, and this is my father.
sein or ihr? The owner decides
Two questions, two answers. WHO owns it decides the word: a man or a masculine/neuter thing → sein, a woman → ihr. WHAT is owned decides the ending: Tom und seine Schwester, Anna und ihr Bruder. English works the same way for the first part (his/her); only the ending is new.
Anna und ihr Bruder wohnen in Köln.Anna and her brother live in Cologne.
mein Mann, meine Frau: partners, cousins and pets
With a possessive, der Mann (man) and die Frau (woman) usually mean husband and wife: Das ist mein Mann. The official words are der Ehemann and die Ehefrau. Cousins come from French: der Cousin, die Cousine, and they sound French too. Pets are Haustiere: der Hund, die Katze. And careful: mein Freund often means “my boyfriend”; for a friend among many, say ein Freund von mir.
Mein Cousin hat eine Katze.My cousin has a cat.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| sein / seine | his, its | Tom liebt seine Katze. Tom loves his cat. |
| ihr / ihre | her; their | Lisa und ihre Eltern kommen heute. Lisa and her parents are coming today. |
| der Mann | man; husband | Der Mann dort ist mein Chef. The man over there is my boss. |
| die Ehefrau | wife | Seine Ehefrau kommt aus Polen. His wife comes from Poland. |
| der Cousin | cousin (male) | Mein Cousin studiert in Berlin. My cousin studies in Berlin. |
| die Cousine | cousin (female) | Deine Cousine spricht sehr gut Englisch. Your cousin speaks English very well. |
| der Neffe | nephew | Mein Neffe ist erst drei. My nephew is only three. |
| die Nichte | niece | Die Nichte von Frau Braun heißt Clara. Ms Braun’s niece is called Clara. |
| das Baby | baby | Das Baby schläft endlich. The baby is finally asleep. |
| das Haustier | pet | Hast du ein Haustier? Do you have a pet? |
| die Katze | cat | Die Katze schläft auf dem Sofa. The cat is sleeping on the sofa. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 2
- fill the gap: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Tom is talking about his sister. What does he say?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.