FormPossessivartikel: sein/ihr + Endung wie ein
Meaning and usage
The stem of a possessive article shows who owns the thing: sein for one male or neuter owner (his, its), ihr for one female owner or for several owners (her, their). The ending shows the gender and case of the thing owned, and it is the same as the ending of ein: sein Vater, seine Mutter, ihr Vater, ihre Mutter.
Use sein when the owner is a man or a neuter noun, and ihr when the owner is a woman or a plural noun. Learners often mix the two stems, saying ihr Vater for a man's father or sein Mutter for a woman's mother. The stem never changes with the thing owned; only the ending does.
Examples 6
Anna sucht ihren Schlüssel.
Anna is looking for her key.
Er hat seinen Sohn im Krieg verloren.
He lost his son in the war.
Er ist ein bisschen wie sein Vater.
He is something like his father.
Sie erinnert mich immer an ihre Mutter.
She always reminds me of her mother.
Sie kann stolz auf ihre Tochter sein.
She may be proud of her daughter.
Sie hielt ihr Baby in den Armen.
She held her baby in her arms.
Test yourself
-
1 Sprachbausteine
Anna findet Schlüssel nicht. Jetzt kann sie nicht in ihre Wohnung.
Show answer
Correct answer: ihren
The owner is Anna, a woman, so the stem is ihr. Schlüssel is masculine and the object, so the ending is -en: ihren Schlüssel.
- seinen sein- is for a male owner, and Anna is a woman.
- ihr The stem is right, but a masculine object needs -en.
- sein The stem is for a male owner, and the -en ending is missing.
In this topic: Possessives
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.