Russian possessive pronouns

One of the essentials of the Russian grammar is Possessive Pronouns (Притяжательные местоимения), so in this article we are going to learn:

1. General info about the Possessive Pronouns in Russian
2. Singular form (my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers)
3. Plural Form (our/ours, your/yours, their/theirs)

General info about the possessive pronouns in Russian

The Possessive pronouns agree with:

1. Gender (masculine, feminine, neuter);
2. Number (singular, plural)
3. Case of the following noun, i.e., what’s possessed.

Which means the Possessive pronouns have 4 forms: masculine, feminine, neuter and one for plural.

The Possessive pronouns in singular

‘MY’

As you may notice, the endings define the gender and number, it would be better to learn them by heart in order to differentiate between them.

‘YOUR’

• Это твои книги, Рената? Are these your books, Renata?
• Да, мои. Yes, mine.
• Это твой карандаш, Рома? Is this your pencil, Roma?
• Да, это мой карандаш. Yes, this is my pencil.

‘HIS’ and ‘HER’ are the easiest possessive pronouns in Russian, they have just one form, and it doesn’t change.

‘HIS’ — его

‘HER’ — её

Её карандаш (masc.) her pencilЕго друг (masc.) his friendЕё книга (fem.) her bookЕго машина (fem.) his carЕё яблоко (neuter) her appleЕго имя (neuter) his nameЕё яблоки (pl.) her applesЕго друзья (pl.) his friends

The Possessive pronouns in plural

There are just 3 plural possessive pronouns to learn: our, your, their.

‘OUR’

‘YOUR’

While in English for a second-person there’s only ‘YOU’ for both singular and plural, Russian has got «ТЫ» (for singular) and «ВЫ» (for plural, and for singular in case you’d like to be formal and respectful).

“THEIR”– «ИХ» (only one form in Russian).

Их телефон (masc., their phone)

Их машина (fem., their car)

Их имя (n., their name)

Их дома (pl., their houses)

Keep in mind that all of these pronouns are in Nominative case (the 1st one), that means there’s much to learn about this topic.

Exercise: Find the possessive pronouns in the sentences below:

1. Мой друг любит смотреть фильмы.
2. Я люблю моего брата.
3. Мы смотрим наше видео.
4. Эти яблоки — наши.
5. Это её машина?
6. Вашего брата ищут.

Now you need only to practice and practice again. Try the question word «Чей? » (Whose?).

(Whose) in Russian has 4 forms (!).

Чей — masculine singular

Чья — feminine singular

Чьё -neuter singular

Чьи — plural

Examples:

– Это чей телефон? (Whose phone is it?)– Это мой телефон. (It’s my phone.)– Это чьи туфли? (Whose shoes are these?)– Это их туфли. (They’re their shoes)

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