Possessivbegleiter

Possessivbegleiter, also known as possessive determinants, are a class of determiners in German grammar that express possession and accompany a noun. They indicate person and number, and inflect for gender, number, and case of the noun they modify. They are written as part of the noun phrase and differ from possessive pronouns, which stand alone without a following noun.

Declension is systematic: for the first-person singular "mein-" the forms are: Nominative: mask mein, fem meine, neut mein, pl meine; Accusative: mask meinen, fem meine, neut mein, pl meine; Dative: mask meinem, fem meiner, neut meinem, pl meinen; Genitive: mask meines, fem meiner, neut meines, pl meiner. The same endings apply to the other possessive determinants (dein-, sein-, ihr-, unser-, euer-, Ihr-) in the corresponding forms.

Usage and function: Possessivbegleiter appear before a noun and agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. They can be used to indicate ownership or association, as in “Mein Auto ist neu” or “Meine Katzen schlafen.” When adjectives accompany the noun, they follow the usual adjective-ending rules, with the possessive determiner providing the necessary inflection.

Relation to possessive pronouns: Possessivbegleiter are different from possessive pronouns, which replace a noun. For example: “Das Auto ist meins” uses a possessive pronoun, while “Mein Auto ist meins” uses both a determiner and pronoun in different positions. Common pronoun forms include meins, deins, seins, unser, euer, Ihrer.

In summary, Possessivbegleiter are the attributive possessives of German that modify nouns, decline by case and gender like other determiners, and contrast with possessive pronouns used independently.