Pronouns in German. Declension of possessive pronouns Possessive pronouns in German table

Some parts of speech, called the main ones, both in Russian and in German, play the main role in the sentence - they convey the meaning of the statement. The service parts of speech, at first glance imperceptible, serve as a link between the main ones - without them, speech would be just a collection of words and its exact meaning would not be clear. The pronoun is one of those "small" parts of the language that are in both Russian and German.

personal and possessive pronouns

In German, there is a division of pronouns into personal and possessive. Personal words include such words known to us as “he”, “she”, “we”, “you” and others - in a sentence they play the role of a subject, which, as a rule, belongs to nouns.

A possessive pronoun indicates the ownership of an object. They are placed before nouns and in a sentence they play the role of a definition, which most often belongs to an adjective. Just like these parts of speech, possessive pronouns agree with nouns in the following grammatical forms:

• number;
• case.

Possessive pronouns change along these lines with the nouns they refer to.

The correspondence of personal pronouns and possessives, as well as options for their use in sentences, can be shown in the table:

Examples of possessive pronouns in German:

• mein Heft - my notebook (Neutrum (Neut.));
• mein Computer - my computer (Maskulinum (Mask.));
• meine Bürste - my brush (Femininum (Fem.));
• dein Fenster - your window
• dein Raum - your room
• deine tasche - your bag
• sein Lineal - his ruler (Neut.);
• sein Hund - his dog (Mask.);
• seine suppe - his soup
• ihr Motto - her (their) motto (Neut.);
• ihr Bericht - her (their) message (Maskulinum);
• ihre Liebe - her (their) love (Femininum);
• unser Konto - our account
• unser Begleiter - our escort (Mask.);
• unsere Treue - our loyalty
• euer Werk - your factory
• euer Saal - your hall (Mask.);
• eure Bühne - your stage (Fem.);
• Ihr Auto - Your car (Neut.);
• Ihr Kollege - Your colleague (Mask.);
• Ihre Waschmaschine - Your washing machine (Fem.).

declination possessive pronouns

Just as a verb is conjugated according to numbers and persons, possessive pronouns change according to the same grammatical indicators. In addition, pronouns can be declined according to cases. All this can be presented in the form of a table:

Here are the options for changing the pronoun mein - all other possessive pronouns will receive the same endings depending on their declension by gender, number and case. Exercises will help you better consolidate the learned material - be sure to complete several tasks after analyzing this topic. The endings that pronouns acquire must be learned by heart.

In this lesson, we will talk about pronouns again. Like nouns, they are also inflected for cases. To say "me", "you", "him", etc., carefully study the table.

Declension of personal pronouns

The genitive case of pronouns is practically not used, phrases requiring these forms are considered obsolete.

Pronouns in German are used to replace a noun that has already named an object.
For example:
Ich habe eine Schwester. Sie ist klug. - I have a sister. She's smart.
Das ist ein Telefon. Er arbeiten nothing. - This is a phone. He does not work.

Remember! Not all pronouns are used exactly the way we are used to using them in Russian. Many German verbs require a specific case of nouns or pronouns after them.

For example, the verb danken - to thank, which requires the dative case, not the accusative, as in Russian: Ich danke die für alles. “I thank you for everything.

Declension of possessive pronouns

No less important in the language are possessive pronouns that answer the questions “whose? whose? whose?". Possessive pronouns once evolved from the genitive form of personal pronouns. The table will help you verify this.

The possessive pronouns "sein" and "ihr", which correspond to the personal pronouns "er" and "sie", can be translated into Russian as his/her or "his". This feature also applies to the translation of other pronouns.

For example:
Das ist seine Wohnung. Er wohnt in seiner Wohnung. - This is his apartment. He lives in his apartment.
Das ist mein Buch. Ich lese mein Buch. - It is my book. I am reading my book.

All possessive pronouns are declined in cases, receiving the same endings as the articles. Consider this rule on the example of the pronoun "mein".

Now do some exercises to consolidate what you have learned.

Tasks for the lesson

Exercise 1. Translate into German the personal pronouns in brackets.
1. Ich liebe (you).
2. Ich gebe (to you) meine Telefonnummer.
3. Sie hasse (him).
4. Sie versteht (me)?
5. Ich verstehe (you are a polite form) nicht.
6. Ich zeige (im) die Fotos.
7. Mein Freund dankt (me).
8. Sag (to him) bitte deine Adresse.
9. Hilfst du (to us)?
10. Sie sagt es (us -2 l. pl.) uns.

Exercise 2. Translate into German the possessive pronouns in brackets. Pay attention to the case and gender of the noun.
1. Sie ist (my) Freundin.
2. Wir lieben (our) Stadt.
3. (his) Schwester ist Studentin.
4. (Their) Wohnung ist teuer.
5. Wo ist (your) Haus?
6. Er schreibt (to his own - dat.p.) Bruder einen Brief.
7. (Yours) Kleid ist sehr schön.
8. Er fragt (her) über die Schule.
9. Wir verkaufen (our) Auto.
10. Die Mutter liest das Buch Tochter.

Answers to exercise 1.
1. Ich liebe dich.
2. Ich gebe dir meine Adresse.
3. Sie hasse ihn.
4. Sie versteht mich.
5. Ich verstehe Sie nicht.
6. Ich zeige sie die Fotos.
7. Mein Freund dankt mir.
8. Sag ihm bitte deine Adresse.
9. Hilfst du euch? 10. Sie sagt es uns.

Answers to exercise 2.
1. Sie ist meine Freundin.
2. Wir lieben unsere Stadt.
3. Seine Schwester ist Studentin.
4. Ihre Wohnung ist teuer.
5. Wo ist dein Haus?
6. Erschreibt ihrem Bruder einen Brief.
7. Dein Kleid ist sehr schön.
8. Er fragt sie über die Schule.
9. Wirverkaufen unser Auto.
10. Die Mutter liest das Buch ihrer Tochter.

Possessive pronouns, as can be understood from the word itself, express the belonging of certain objects to a person or other object.
Possessive pronouns in German are called "Possessivpronomen" and answer the question of ownership - "Wessen?" that is, translated into Russian "Whose?".
The main feature of such pronouns is that they are always used without articles. The possessive pronoun, being in front of the noun, takes on the functions of the determiner and completely replaces the article.
It should be noted that possessive pronouns in German are fully consistent with personal pronouns, denoting the very person to whom the object belongs. The possessive pronoun is a personal pronoun that is in the genitive case or, as it is denoted in German, Genitiv. Genitiv, unlike the genitive case in Russian, answers questions of ownership: Whose? Whose? and Whose?
Thus, each personal pronoun is assigned its own possessive pronoun.
Below are personal pronouns and their corresponding possessive pronouns. Examples are given after the table.

Example sentences in German with possessive pronouns:
Mein Hund heist Rex. (My dog's name is Rex.)
Dein Bleistift ist am Boden gefallen. (Your pencil fell to the floor.)
Sein Bild kostet 40 Euro. (His painting costs 40 euros.)
Sie ist gute Arbeiterin, aber ihr Lohn ist nicht groß. (She is a good worker, but her salary is small.)
Unser Nachbar hat eine neue Wohnung gemietet. (Our neighbor rented a new apartment.)
As already mentioned, all possessive pronouns in German are consistent with the person in relation to which the belonging is expressed. But this is manifested not only depending on the person, that is, the personal pronoun, but also on gender and number.
The table shows possessive pronouns in the nominative case by gender and number.

As you can immediately see, there are some regularities in the table. Firstly, in the masculine and neuter genders, pronouns have the same endings, or rather they are absent. Secondly, the feminine and the plural also have the same endings, namely the vowel "e".
Thirdly, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that possessive pronouns, being in the singular form, have endings as the corresponding indefinite articles ein or eine, and in the plural - as the definite articles die, der and das. This rule applies not only to the change of endings by gender, but also applies to the declension of possessive pronouns in German by case.
The following examples of sentences with possessive pronouns in various cases will help you better understand this rule.
Ich habe seinen Anzug sofort bemerkt, weil er sehr ungewöhnlich ist.
(I immediately noticed his costume, as it is very unusual.)
Gestern traf ich im Kino euren Bekannten.
(I met your friend at the cinema yesterday.)
Ich spiele mit meinem Ball.
(I play with my ball.)
Wie geht es deiner Tante?
(How is your aunt doing?)
Das Heft meines Freundes liegt am Boden.
(My friend's notebook is on the floor.)

In this lesson, we will consider a substitute for the article - possessive pronouns that have units in the nominative case. numbers in the following form:

These possessive pronouns need to be remembered.

Like the article, possessive pronouns stand before the noun, agreeing in gender, number and case and form one accent group with it, the noun is usually stressed.

mein' Bruder, dein' Vater, sein' Tisch

Possessive pronouns in the singular are declined as an indefinite article (see).

Remember! 1. In possessive pronouns, gender is distinguished only in the 3rd person singular. numbers (sein, ihr). Therefore, choosing a possessive pronoun of the 3rd person singular. numbers, it is necessary to pay attention to the kind of person to whom another person or object belongs. If the object belongs to a feminine person, then we use the possessive pronoun ihr, for masculine and neuter - sein, the plural does not depend on the gender - ihr.

2. The ending of the possessive pronoun is chosen depending on the gender, number and case of the noun before which it must be placed, compare: mein Vater, mein Buch, but: meine Mutter (female).

It should be noted that in German each person has its own possessive pronoun, unlike the Russian language, where the possessive pronoun depends on the subject, and usually one pronoun is used in all persons mine:

To ask a question to a possessive pronoun (to find out about the belonging of a person or object), an interrogative word is used Wessen? whose?, whose?, whose?, whose?. question word Wessen? with the noun before which it stands, take the first place in the sentence. After Wessen? No article is placed before the noun, for example:

Wessen Vater wartet unten? Whose father is waiting downstairs?
Wessen Heft ist das? Whose notebook is this?

You can read more about possessive pronouns and.

Exercises

1. Say the following combinations. Follow the correct accent.

2. Say the following combinations, translate them.

b) seine Tochter, ihre Tante (2 variants), sein Kind, unser Heft, Ihr Buch, euer Institut, deine Tochter, ihre Mappe, dein Tisch, unsere Aufgabe, meine Karte

3. Insert different possessive pronouns before each noun. Pay attention to the agreement of the possessive pronoun and the noun.

Sample: die Aufgabe - unsere Aufgabe, meine Aufgabe, etc., der Vater - dein Vater, ihr Vater, etc.

der Bruder, das Zimmer, der Sohn, die Mappe, das Kind, die Tochter, der Tisch, das Fenster, das Heft, der Text

4. Answer the questions using different possessive pronouns.

Sample: Wessen Sohn steht da? – Mein Sohn (sein Sohn, ihr Sohn…) steht da.

1. Wessen Buch liegt oben? 2. Wessen Studenten antworten jetzt? 3. Wessen Sohn kommt heute? 4. Wessen Kind ist das? 5. Wesse Vater arbeitet hier?

5. Translate combinations into Russian.

my text, our notebook, your assignment, my aunt, your institute, their student, his portfolio, their book, her daughter, his son, our child

Key

5. mein Text, unser Heft, deine Aufgabe, meine Tante, dein Institut, ihr Student, seine Mappe, ihr Buch, ihre Tochter, sein Sohn, unser Kind

These are the masculine and neuter forms. In the feminine and in the plural, the ending is added to these words -e(same as to or word ).

• • In the nominative case (Nominativ), the masculine and neuter genders coincide and remain unchanged. In the feminine and plural, add e-.
  • In the accusative case (Akkusativ), the male gets the ending -en: meinen Schrank, deinen Schrank etc. Also the word euer changes to euren.

Examples:

Das sind wir und unsere Kinder. This is us and our children.
Das ist Peter und das ist seine Frau Martina. This is Peter and this is his wife Martina.
Wie ist eure Meinung?— What is your opinion?
Wo ist deine Mutter? Wo ist dein Vater?- Where is your mother? Where is your dad?
Ich habe mein Buch im Bus vergessen.— I left my book on the bus.
Ich kenne seine Frau.— I know his wife.
Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben.— I do my homework.
Wann zeigst du deinen Hund? When will you show your dog?
Wir haben unsere Bücher vergessen. We have forgotten our books.

Mine or yours? Mine or yours?

Often where we say in Russian " mine» Germans say « is yours«, « my" etc. Word " mine» Germans use only when they want to say « your own". Then it will be the word eigen.

Ich habe mein Handy verloren.— I lost my phone.
Möchtest du mein Buch haben? — Nein, Danke. Ich habe mein eigenes Buch.- Do you want my book? - No thanks. I have my own (own).

Topic exercises

Do you have any questions about this topic? Write in the comments.