Possessive Adjectives How to show belonging… The information contained in this document may not be duplicated or distributed without the permission of.

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1 Possessive Adjectives How to show belonging… The information contained in this document may not be duplicated or distributed without the permission of the owner. © Michelle L. Ishmael Wright, July, 2013

2 Possessive Adjectives In English, possessive adjectives are the words we use to show that a person possesses something: my bookour computer your dogyour (you all’s) cat his brothertheir school her birthday its cover

3 The List mymein yourdein hissein herihr itssein ourunser your (plural)euer theirihr your (formal)Ihr no/nonekein

4 Basic Terminology In order to best understand how to use these words, let’s review some basic terms. definite article – the indefinite article – a/an possessive adjective – a word that indicates possession of a noun nominative case – used for the subject accusative case – used for the direct object

5 Nominative Case Definite ArticleIndefinite ArticlePossessive Adj. Masculinedereinmein Femininedieeinemeine Neuterdaseinmein Pluraldie----meine

6 Accusative Case Definite ArticleIndefinite ArticlePossessive Adj. Masculinedeneinenmeinen Femininedieeinemeine Neuterdaseinmein Pluraldie----meine

7 How to Use In German, these possessive adjectives work just like the word ‘ein’. (If you are unsure of how ‘ein’ works, please look at the Accusative Case Rules document.) Feminine, Nominative Case (subject) Die Lehrerin ist blondhaarig. Eine Lehrerin ist blondhaarig. Meine Lehrerin ist blondhaarig. Unsere Lehrerin ist blondhaarig.

8 Neuter, Accusative Case Ich habe das Buch. (the book) Ich habe ein Buch. (a book) Ich habe mein Buch. (my book) Ich habe dein Buch. (your book) Ich habe sein Buch. (his book, its book) Ich habe euer Buch. (your plural book)

9 Masculine, Accusative Case Wir brauchen den Kuli. Wir brauchen einen Kuli. Wir brauchen meinen Kuli. Wir brauchen ihren Kuli. Wir brauchen unseren Kuli.

10 The Importance of Context Clues With so many uses for the same word, some students want to know how to tell if the sentence is about her pen, their pen, or your pen. Just as with the subject pronouns, context is important. If you have a single sentence with no other information, you cannot tell which way the word is being used - only in context!

11 Wir brauchen ihren Kuli. In Mathe arbeiten wir in Gruppen. Ich arbeite mit Florian, Matthias und Melanie. Ich habe keinen Kuli und keinen Bleistift aber Melanie hat einen Kuli. Das ist gut! Wir brauchen ihren Kuli. In the solitary sentence, there is no way to know if it is her pen or their pen. In the collection of sentences, context tells us it is her pen.

12 Ihr Deutschbuch ist hier. Katja geht um vier Uhr nach Hause aber ihr Deutschbuch ist hier. Mein Deutschbuch ist zu Hause. Frau Ish, darf ich bitte Ihr Deutschbuch benutzen? The meaning is clearer when additional sentences are used. The information contained in this document may not be duplicated or distributed without the permission of the owner. © Michelle L. Ishmael Wright, July, 2013