B1 · Pronouns
Possessive pronouns: meins
Das ist nicht mein Buch, das ist deins.
When the noun is left out, the possessive takes the der-endings instead.
At a glance
- Remember
- No noun after it: the possessive wears der’s ending.
- Form
- mein Buch, meine Taschebefore a noun
- Signal words
- meiner
- meins
- deins
- seins
- ihrer
- unserer
- wem
- Trap
- Wrong:Das ist nicht mein Buch, das ist dein.Right:Das ist nicht mein Buch, das ist deins.
Your turn
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The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in German.
| before a noun | mein Buch, meine Tasche |
| standing alone, masculine | Das ist meiner. |
| standing alone, feminine | Das ist meine. |
| standing alone, neuter | Das ist meins. |
| standing alone, plural | Das sind meine. |
| with the article, formal | der meine, die Ihre |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
With no noun following, the possessive takes the der-endings.
Ist das dein Schirm? — Ja, das ist meiner.Is that your umbrella? — Yes, that is mine.
The neuter -es contracts to -s in ordinary use.
Das Auto da ist seins.That car over there is his.
The case still comes from the sentence.
Ich nehme meinen, du nimmst deinen.I will take mine, you take yours.
A formal alternative adds the article.
Ist das der Ihre?Is that yours?
Example sentences
Das ist nicht mein Platz, das ist deiner.That is not my seat, it is yours.
Meins ist kaputt.Mine is broken.
Ihre Wohnung ist größer als unsere.Their flat is bigger than ours.
Nimm meinen, ich brauche ihn nicht.Take mine, I do not need it.
Wem gehört das? — Das ist meins.Whose is this? — It is mine.
6 more example sentences
Ist der Mantel deiner?Is the coat yours?
Unser Zug fährt später als eurer.Our train leaves later than yours.
Ich habe keins mehr.I have not got any left.
Ihre ist blau, meine ist rot.Hers is blue, mine is red.
Das Handy da ist seins.That phone over there is his.
Er hat seinen vergessen.He has forgotten his.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The bare form dein only exists in front of a noun. Standing alone it has nothing to lean on, so it takes the neuter ending that das would have had: deins. The same applies to the masculine — Das ist meiner, not "mein" — and this is the form learners drop most often, because English "mine" and "yours" give no clue that an ending is missing.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A possessive standing in front of a noun follows the ein-pattern, so it is bare in three forms: mein Buch, mein Bruder. Standing alone with no noun after it, it has to carry the marking itself and switches to the der-endings: Das ist meins, Das ist meiner.
The neuter form contracts in speech: meines becomes meins, deines becomes deins, seines becomes seins. Both spellings are correct and the short one is what people say and write in anything informal.
German has no separate set of words for this, unlike English "mine, yours, his". The same seven possessives simply change their endings, which is one fewer thing to learn and one more table to keep straight.
A closer look
The same shift happens elsewhere
This is not a rule about possessives; it is a rule about German determiners in general. Kein does the same: Ich habe kein Autoin front of a nounIch habe keinsalone Welcher and dieser already have the endings and change nothing.
The principle behind all of it is that the case and gender have to be shown once somewhere in the phrase. If a noun and an article are both present, the article does it. If one of them is missing, whatever is left takes over — which is also exactly why adjectives change their endings depending on what stands in front of them.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When the answer is about belonging rather than identifying
then German prefers a dative pronoun after gehören.
Wem gehört der Schlüssel? — Mir.Whose key is it? — Mine.
Why? Gehören takes a dative object, so no possessive is needed at all.
Exception
When a written text wants a formal tone
then the article form appears: der meine, die Ihren.
Grüße an die Ihren.Regards to your family.
Why? It is correct, old-fashioned and mostly found in letters and literature.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
No apostrophe, ever
The short forms are written meins, deins, seins with no apostrophe. Writing "mein’s" is a common German mistake with an English source, and the same applies to the contracted articles: ins and ans have never carried one.
Worth knowing
Meins is also a whole sentence
Children claim things with a single word — Meins! — exactly as English children say "mine". It is one of the few places where the two languages line up perfectly in this area.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: sein · nehmen · hören · brauchen