Lesson Transcript

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?
Ist das (pause with a tap of the finger)?
Ist das (pause with a tap of the finger)?
deins
deins
Ist das deins?
Ist das deins?
"Is that yours?"
We use deins in this sentence because it is the possessive pronoun for du "you," informal singular, and it's used to ask if something belongs to that person.
Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?
Das ist nicht deins, das ist (pause with a tap of the finger).
Das ist nicht deins, das ist (pause with a tap of the finger).
meins
meins
Das ist nicht deins, das ist meins.
Das ist nicht deins, das ist meins.
"That's not yours, that's mine."
We use meins in this sentence because it is the possessive pronoun for ich "I," used to say that something belongs to the speaker.
Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?
Ist das euer Haus? Nein, das ist (pause with a tap of the finger).
Ist das euer Haus? Nein, das ist (pause with a tap of the finger).
unseres
unseres
Ist das euer Haus? Nein, das ist unseres.
Ist das euer Haus? Nein, das ist unseres.
"Is that your house? No, that's ours."
We use unseres in this sentence because it replaces das as a demonstrative pronoun. The demonstrative "das" is neuter, so the corresponding possessive pronoun is neuter.
Unscramble the words to make a sentence.
Ready?
Ich
Ich glaube,
Ich glaube, das
Ich glaube, das ist
Ich glaube, das ist seins.
"I think that's his."
Ich glaube, das ist seins.
Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?
Ist das ihres oder (mich or meins)?
Ist das ihres oder (mich or meins)?
meins
meins
Ist das ihres oder meins?
"Is that hers or mine?"
Meins is used here because it is the possessive pronoun for ich "I," and is being contrasted with ihres, the possessive for sie "she."
Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?
Entschuldigung, ist das Auto (Ihres or sein)?
Entschuldigung, ist das Auto (Ihres or sein)?
Ihres
Ihres
Entschuldigung, ist das Auto Ihres?
"Excuse me, is that car yours?"
Ihres is used here because it is the formal possessive pronoun for Sie, "you," formal, showing respectful address when asking if the car belongs to someone.
Let's translate some sentences into German.
Translate "No, that's not his, that's hers." into German.
Nein, the interjection, meaning "no."
followed by
das, the subject, meaning "that."
next
ist, the third-person singular of the verb sein, meaning "is."
followed by
nicht, the negation, meaning "not."
next
seins, the stand-alone possessive pronoun for er (he), meaning "his."
followed by
das, the subject of the second clause, meaning "that."
next
ist, the third-person singular of sein, meaning "is."
followed by
ihres, the possessive pronoun for sie (she), meaning "hers."
We use seins and ihres because they are the possessive pronouns for er "he" and sie "she," respectively. They are used here to contrast ownership between two third-person singular people.
Nein, das ist nicht seins, das ist ihres.
Nein, das ist nicht seins, das ist ihres.
"No, that's not his, that's hers."
Translate "That's not my backpack. Is that yours?" into German.
Das, the subject, meaning "that."
followed by
ist, the third-person singular of sein, meaning "is."
next
nicht, the negation, meaning "not."
followed by
mein, the possessive adjective for ich (I), meaning "my."
next
Rucksack, the noun, meaning "backpack."
followed by
Ist, the verb at the beginning of the second sentence, meaning "is."
next
das, the subject, meaning "that."
followed by
deiner, the stand-alone possessive pronoun for du (you), masculine form, meaning "yours."
We use deiner in this sentence because Rucksack is masculine, and deiner is the masculine form of the possessive pronoun for du "you," informal.
Das ist nicht mein Rucksack. Ist das deiner?
Das ist nicht mein Rucksack. Ist das deiner?
"That's not my backpack. Is that yours?"
Translate "The phone? Yes, that's mine." into German.
Das Handy, the subject, meaning "the phone."
followed by
Ja, the affirmative word, meaning "yes."
next
das, the subject of the clause, meaning "that."
followed by
ist, the third-person singular of sein, meaning "is."
next
meins, the stand-alone possessive pronoun for ich "I," used for neuter nouns, meaning "mine."
We use meins in this sentence because it is the possessive pronoun for ich (I), referring to something owned by the speaker — in this case, das Handy (a neuter noun).
Das Handy? Ja, das ist meins.
Das Handy? Ja, das ist meins.
"The phone? Yes, that's mine."
Listen to me as I speak. Which possessive pronoun is used in the sentences?
Ist das deins?
Let's listen one more time.
Ist das deins?
Did you hear, deins?
Deins, meaning "yours" in an informal context, is used before a noun to ask about ownership from du.
How about...?
Ich glaube, das ist seins.
Let's listen one more time.
Ich glaube, das ist seins.
Did you hear, seins?
Seins, meaning "his," is used to refer to something owned by er, "he."
Next…
Ist das ihres oder meins?
One more time.
Ist das ihres oder meins?
Did you hear, ihres?
Ihres, meaning "hers," is used to refer to something owned by sie, "she."
And...
Das ist nicht mein Rucksack. Ist das deiner?
One more time.
Das ist nicht mein Rucksack. Ist das deiner?
Did you hear, deiner?
Deiner, meaning "yours" (masculine object), is the possessive for du, used when the object is masculine, like Rucksack.
Thank you for watching.
Now you know how to talk about possession in German.
...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway.
Bis bald!

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