My in German – also: his her your

Today, I’m going to show you how to use the possessive pronouns: my, your, his, and her in German.

If you’d like to practice with our, your (plural), and their, I suggest you visit this lesson: Our in German – Also Your and Their.

My in German - his her your - Learn German Easily

mein / dein / sein / ihr

We use mein, dein, sein and ihr when these words refer to a noun with a masculine or neuter article.

der Opa (der = masculine article)
das Baby (das = neuter article)

We use meine, deine, seine and ihre when these words refer to a noun with a feminine or plural article.

die Oma (die = feminine article)
die Kinder (die = plural article)

My, your, his, her in German – Exercise

How to Learn with This Lesson

Today, I have a little challenge for you:

Step by step, you should be able to listen to longer sections of text. Today, you’ll have the chance to practice this. There’s just one audio track for the next four sections.

First, read the following sentences in German several times until you fully understand them (refer to the English translation if needed).

Then, read and listen until you can understand the audio without looking at the text.

This may take a bit longer, but you’ll gain so much more from this lesson. Not only will you master the topic of possessive pronouns, but you’ll also learn new words, improve your pronunciation, and become much more familiar with German sentence structure.

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‘My’ in German = mein/meine

Mein Vater ist sehr klein.
My father is very short.

Meine Mutter ist sehr groß.
My mother is very tall.

Mein Vater ist kleiner als meine Mutter.
My father is shorter than my mother.

Mein Vater ist so klein, man kann seine Füße auf seinem Passfoto sehen!
My father is so short, you can see his feet on his passport photo!

der Vater
=> mein Vater

die Mutter
=> meine Mutter

‘Your’ in German = dein/deine

Dein Opa ist sehr alt.
Your grandfather is very old.

Deine Oma ist sehr jung.
Your grandmother is very young.

Dein Opa ist älter als deine Oma.
Your grandfather is older than your grandmother.

Dein Opa ist so alt, seine SV-Nr* ist 1!
Your grandfather is so old, his social security number is 1!

*SV-Nr = Sozialversicherungsnummer

der Opa
=> dein Opa

die Oma
=> deine Oma

‘His’ in German = sein/seine

Pauls Zahnarzt hat seine Zahnarztpraxis geschlossen.
Paul’s dentist has closed his dental practice.

Sein Zahnarzt hat seine Zahnarztpraxis geschlossen.
His dentist has closed his dental practice.

Seine Zähne sind sehr gelb.
His teeth are very yellow.

Seine Zähne sind so gelb, dass der Verkehr sich verlangsamt, wenn er lächelt!
His teeth are so yellow, traffic slows down when he smiles!

der Zahnarzt
=> sein Zahnarzt

die Zahnarztpraxis
=> seine Zahnarztpraxis

die Zähne (plural)
=> seine Zähne

‘Her’ in German = ihr/ihre

Marias Auto ist sauber.
Maria’s car is clean.

Ihr Auto ist sauber.
Her car is clean.

Ihre Wohnung ist schmutzig.
Her apartment is dirty.

Ihre Wohnung ist schmutziger als ihr Auto.
Her apartment is dirtier than her car.

Ihre Wohnung ist so schmutzig, sie muss ihre Schuhe putzen, bevor sie nach draußen geht.
Her apartment is so dirty, she has to wipe her shoes before she goes outside.

das Auto
=> ihr Auto

die Wohnung
=> ihre Wohnung

die Schuhe (plural)
=> ihre Schuhe

Do you know the secret of how to learn the German language?

Don’t worry about technical terms…

… like possessive pronouns. It is far more important that you get the idea how to use the words: mein/meine, dein/deine, sein/seine, ihr/ihre. Nothing else matters!