Ihre
Ihren article: Ihre is a German word that functions as a possessive determiner and, in its capitalized form, as a formal possessive pronoun associated with the pronoun Sie (you, formally). It indicates possession by the person or people being addressed in formal communication, or by a plural subject in general contexts when written without formal capitalization.
As a possessive determiner, Ihre accompanies a noun and agrees with the gender, number, and case of
As a possessive pronoun, Ihre can stand alone to mean yours in a formal register, as in
- Deutsche formal address: Ihre/book forms reflect the formal address Sie, not an informal Ihr.
- Lowercase oder forms: ihre/ihre indicate third-person possession (their, her) or in some cases neuter possessives, and
- Context and capitalization are key for distinguishing between formal ownership and third-person ownership in written German.
- Ist das Ihre Tasche? (Is that your bag? formal)
- Ihre Freunde kommen später. (Your friends—formal address)
- Ihre Meinung ist wichtig. (Your opinion—formal address)
Etymology and scope: Ihre derives from the German possessive paradigm linked to Sie, the formal second-person