German Possessives in the Genitive: meines, meiner

German possessives in the genitive — meines, meiner, seines, ihres, unseres, eures and so on — express "of my / of your / of his / of her / of our / of your (pl.) / of their" in writing and formal speech. They only take two endings: -es before masculine and neuter nouns, -er before feminine and plural ones. The same noun also adds -(e)s, which is why "of my father" comes out as meines Vaters — one genitive marker on the possessive, another on the noun.

If you already know mein/dein/sein/ihr in the nominative, accusative, and dative, the genitive is the last piece. Learn the two endings, learn the noun -(e)s rule that goes with them, and the eight stems below will all decline the same way.

Quick reference: all 8 possessives in the genitive

Every possessive uses the same two endings. Masculine and neuter nouns also add -(e)s to the noun itself.

The endings mirror the definite article: des → -es, der → -er. Two of the eight stems (ihr "her", ihr "their", Ihr "your formal") are spelled identically — only context and capitalization tell them apart.

Ready to lock in meines and meiner? You can practise the genitive possessives right here — the free trainer below needs no sign-up and checks each ending (plus the noun -(e)s) the moment you submit, so the doubled-marking pattern sticks fast.

What are German possessives in the genitive case?

A possessive in the genitive case is a possessive determiner (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr) that has been declined to agree with a noun in the genitive. Its job is to add an owner to a noun that is already in the genitive for some other reason: because it follows a genitive preposition, because it expresses possession of another noun, or because a verb or adjective governs the genitive.

Three typical situations:

1. Noun-of-noun possession: das Auto meines Vaters ("my father's car").
2. After genitive prepositions (wegen, trotz, während, statt, anstatt): trotz ihrer Krankheit ("despite her illness").
3. After fixed expressions and verbs that take the genitive: er erinnert sich seines Großvaters ("he remembers his grandfather") — rare in modern speech, common in formal text.

For the broader case (articles, noun suffixes, prepositions), see the German genitive case and genitive prepositions.

Possessive genitive endings: -es and -er

There are only two endings, chosen by the gender and number of the following noun (not by the gender of the possessor).

• -es → masculine and neuter singular: meines, deines, seines, ihres, unseres, eures, Ihres.
• -er → feminine singular and all plurals: meiner, deiner, seiner, ihrer, unserer, eurer, Ihrer.

Compare with the definite article in the genitive:

This is the same two-ending pattern as kein (keines/keiner) and the indefinite eines/einer. If you have those down, the possessives are a free ride.

Mein in the genitive case: meines Vaters, meiner Mutter

Mein is the model. Every other stem (dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr) decays the same way.

meines (masculine and neuter)

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

Wegen meines Problems können wir nicht weiterarbeiten. — Because of my problem, we can't keep working.

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

Notice the doubled marking: the possessive ends in -es and the noun ends in -(e)s. Both are required.

meiner (feminine and plural)

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

Trotz meiner Hilfe hat er es nicht geschafft. — Despite my help, he didn't manage it.

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

Feminine and plural nouns take no extra ending — only the possessive carries the genitive marker.

Sein, ihr, and Ihr in the genitive

Sein ("his / its") and ihr ("her", "their", and formal "your") share the same surface forms:

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.

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 (her) vs. ihr (their) vs. Ihr (your, formal)

The three are written identically except for capitalization of the formal Ihr. Context — and in writing, capitalization — does all the work:

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

Wir warten auf die Entscheidung Ihrer Firma. — We are waiting for the decision of your (formal) company.

Unser and euer in the genitive

unser

Unser follows the standard pattern, with no contraction:

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 colour of our car.

euer drops its -e-

When euer takes any ending, the second -e- (between u and r) drops. The genitive is no exception:

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.

This is the same contraction you've seen in the accusative (euren) and dative (eurem, eurer) — there's nothing special about the genitive.

The noun -(e)s ending: meines Vaters, seines Hauses

The genitive marks the masculine/neuter noun twice: once on the possessive (-es) and once on the noun itself. The noun rule:

• One-syllable masculine and neuter nouns usually take -es: meines Mannes, seines Buches, ihres Hauses, eures Kindes.
• Multi-syllable masculine and neuter nouns usually take -s: meines Vaters, deines Lehrers, unseres Computers.
• Feminine and plural nouns take no ending: meiner Mutter, ihrer Schwester, eurer Pläne.

The doubled -s in meines Vaters is the single most distinctive shape of the German genitive — train your eye to expect it.

Possessives + n-Deklination weak masculine nouns

A small group of masculine nouns — der Student, der Junge, der Kollege, der Nachbar, der Mensch, der Herr, der Name — follows the n-Deklination pattern: in every case except the nominative, they end in -(e)n, never -(e)s.

When the noun after the possessive is a weak masculine, you still write the possessive with -es, but the noun does not get -es:

trotz meines Studenten (NOT Studentes) — despite my student

wegen seines Kollegen (NOT Kolleges) — because of his colleague

das Buch ihres Nachbarn (NOT Nachbars) — her neighbour's book

der Wunsch unseres Herrn (NOT Herrs) — our gentleman's wish

The possessive is genitive-marked; the noun is n-Deklination-marked. The two endings coexist because they answer different questions: the possessive ending shows agreement, the noun ending shows declension class.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

The errors below come up at every B1 level. Each one has the wrong form, the reason, and the fix.

The single mistake that signals "not yet B1" is forgetting the noun -(e)s on masculine and neuter words. Once you see meines Vaters automatically, you've internalised the pattern.

Possessive genitive vs dative paraphrase ("von + Dativ")

Spoken German often replaces the genitive with von + Dativ, especially when the possessive would otherwise stack two -s endings:

Both are grammatical; the genitive is preferred in writing, on the B1 exam, and in formal speech. After genitive prepositions (wegen, trotz, während, statt), the genitive is still standard even in everyday speech — though "wegen + Dativ" is widely accepted colloquially. See possessives in the dative for the full von-paraphrase pattern.

Tips for getting it right every time

1. Only two endings: -es for masculine/neuter, -er for feminine/plural. Same pattern as des/der and kein/keine.
2. The NOUN's gender chooses 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 -(e)s: masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es, so you see two genitive markers in a row — meines Vaters, seines Hauses, ihres Buches.
4. Weak masculine nouns take -(e)n, not -(e)s in the genitive — see n-Deklination.
5. Euer drops its -e-: eures, eurer — never eueres or euerer.
6. Adjectives after a possessive in the genitive end in -en: trotz meines schlechten Deutschs, wegen seiner alten Eltern.
7. ihres / ihrer can mean "of her", "of their", or "of your (formal)" — capitalisation and context are your only clues.