mein

Mein is a German possessive determiner and pronoun that means "my" and, when used as a pronoun, "mine." It is placed before a noun and agrees in gender, number, and case with that noun. For example, mein Haus (my house) uses a masculine noun in nominative, while meine Mutter (my mother) uses a feminine noun.

Declension as a determiner:

- Nominative: masculine mein, feminine meine, neuter mein, plural meine.

- Accusative: masculine meinen, feminine meine, neuter mein, plural meine.

- Dative: masculine meinem, feminine meiner, neuter meinem, plural meinen.

- Genitive: masculine meines, neuter seines, feminine meiner, plural meiner.

These endings mirror other German possessive determiners and show agreement with the noun they modify.

As a pronoun:

Meins is used to mean "mine" as a standalone pronoun, as in Das ist meins. Other forms such as deins or seins may be used in similar contexts, depending on the possessed item and regional variation.

Usage notes:

Mein is most common in everyday speech and writing before nouns. It can also form part of set phrases and compound words, and its related forms appear across the broader family of related Germanic languages (for example Dutch mijn, Icelandic mín, and several Scandinavian equivalents).

In modern German, meins and the corresponding determiner endings provide clear gender and case information, helping convey possession succinctly in both spoken and written text.