Possessive Articles in Genitive

Overview

You already know possessives (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer) in nominative, accusative, and dative. In the genitive case, possessives follow a consistent pattern: they take -es for masculine/neuter and -er for feminine/plural.

Possessives in genitive appear in constructions like:

Wegen meines Bruders kann ich nicht kommen. — Because of my brother, I can't come.

Trotz ihrer Krankheit geht sie arbeiten. — Despite her illness, she goes to work.

The genitive ending on the possessive signals "of my / of your / of his..." — the same meaning as the genitive definite articles (des/der), but with ownership added.

Genitive Possessive Forms

All possessives follow the same ending pattern in genitive:

The endings mirror the definite articles: des → -es, der → -er.

Remember: masculine/neuter nouns also add -(e)s to the noun itself (des Mannes, des Buches), so you will see two -s endings in a row — one on the possessive and one on the noun.

Mein & Dein

Masculine / Neuter (meines, deines)

Das Auto meines Vaters ist alt. — My father's car is old.

Wegen deines Problems können wir nicht weiterarbeiten. — Because of your problem, we can't continue working.

Die Qualität meines Kaffees ist gut. — The quality of my coffee is good.

Feminine / Plural (meiner, deiner)

Die Meinung meiner Mutter ist wichtig. — My mother's opinion is important.

Trotz deiner Hilfe habe ich es nicht geschafft. — Despite your help, I didn't manage it.

Die Namen meiner Kinder sind Max und Anna. — The names of my children are Max and Anna.

Sein & Ihr

Masculine / Neuter (seines, ihres)

Der Garten seines Hauses ist groß. — The garden of his house is large.

Die Adresse ihres Büros hat sich geändert. — The address of her office has changed.

Während seines Studiums hat er viel gelernt. — During his studies, he learned a lot.

Feminine / Plural (seiner, ihrer)

Er ist stolz auf den Erfolg seiner Tochter. — He is proud of his daughter's success.

Die Ergebnisse ihrer Forschung sind beeindruckend. — The results of her research are impressive.

Trotz seiner Bemühungen hat er die Prüfung nicht bestanden. — Despite his efforts, he didn't pass the exam.

Ihr (their) vs. ihr (her)

The forms are identical — only context distinguishes them:

Das Haus ihrer Eltern ist schön. — The house of her parents / their parents is beautiful.

Unser & Euer

Unser

Unser follows the standard pattern:

Die Zukunft unseres Landes ist wichtig. — The future of our country is important.

Trotz unserer Verspätung haben wir den Zug noch erreicht. — Despite our delay, we still caught the train.

Die Farbe unseres Autos gefällt mir. — I like the color of our car.

Euer — The Special Case

When euer takes genitive endings, the second -e- (the one between u and r) is dropped:

This is the same contraction that happens in all other cases (eure, euren, eurem).

Die Lage eures Hotels ist perfekt. — The location of your (pl.) hotel is perfect.

Wegen eurer Verspätung mussten wir warten. — Because of your (pl.) delay, we had to wait.

Trotz eures Protests hat der Chef nicht nachgegeben. — Despite your (pl.) protest, the boss didn't give in.

Tips

1. Only two endings: -es (masculine/neuter) and -er (feminine/plural). This matches the definite article pattern (des/der).
2. The NOUN's gender determines the ending, not the gender of the possessor. "Meines Vaters" uses -es because Vater is masculine, regardless of whether the speaker is male or female.
3. Don't forget the noun suffix: masculine and neuter nouns add -(e)s too, so you get "meines Vaters" — possessive ending AND noun ending.
4. Euer drops its -e- before endings: eures, eurer (never eueres, euerer).
5. Genitive possessives + adjectives: when an adjective follows, it always ends in -en (genitive adjective rule). Example: "trotz meines schlechten Deutschs" — because of my bad German.
6. Ihr/ihr/Ihr: "ihres" can mean "of her," "of their," or "of your (formal)" — capitalization and context are your clues.