German possessive articles: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer (ein-word endings)
The possessive articles (my, your, his, her, our) take exactly the same endings as ein/kein, so mastering ein-words unlocks all of them at once.
A possessive article says who something belongs to: mein (my), dein (your, informal), sein (his/its), ihr (her/their), unser (our), euer (your, plural). The good news: they are ein-words — they take the same endings as ein/kein. So if you know ein, you already know these.
Each personal pronoun has its own possessive:
| pronoun | possessive |
|---|---|
| ich | mein |
| du | dein |
| er / es | sein |
| sie (she) | ihr |
| wir | unser |
| ihr (you all) | euer |
| sie / Sie | ihr / Ihr |
Endings in the nominative: masculine and neuter take no ending (mein Vater, mein Kind), feminine and plural add -e (meine Mutter, meine Bücher).
The one change to watch: in the accusative, the masculine adds -en — just like einen. So der Hund → meinen Hund: Ich sehe meinen Hund.
Because the ending shows the noun's gender and case — not the owner — ihr Vater means "her father" regardless of who "her" is.
Examples
Mein Vater liest ein Buch.
My father is reading a book. (masculine, nominative: no ending)
Meine Mutter ist zu Hause.
My mother is at home. (feminine, nominative: +e)
Ich sehe meinen Hund.
I see my dog. (masculine accusative: +en, like einen)
Ihr Kind spielt im Haus.
Her child is playing in the house. (neuter, nominative: no ending)
Common mistakes
Hund is masculine and here it is the direct object (accusative), so the possessive takes -en, exactly like einen: meinen Hund.
Vater is masculine, so in the nominative it takes NO ending: mein Vater. The -e ending is only for feminine and plural (meine Mutter).
The ending follows the NOUN, not the owner. Mutter is feminine, so it needs -e: seine Mutter (his mother), even though the owner 'he' is masculine.
Related topics
Practice
Das ist meine Schwester. ___ Name ist Anna.
Wo ist ___ Auto, Herr Meier?
Ich suche meinen Schlüssel. Hast du ___ Schlüssel gesehen?