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Possessive case

In Russian, there is no grammatical possessive case like the English ’s (e.g., John’s book). Instead, possession is expressed using possessive pronouns, adjectives, or the genitive case of nouns. Below is a detailed explanation with examples.

1. Possessive Pronouns

These agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify (not the possessor).

Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
My мой моя моё мои
Your (sg.) твой твоя твоё твои
His его его его его
Her её её её её
Our наш наша наше наши
Your (pl./formal) ваш ваша ваше ваши
Their их их их их

Examples:

  • Это моя книга. – This is my book.
  • Где твой брат? – Where is your brother?
  • Это его машина. – This is his car.
  • Мы любим нашу страну. – We love our country.

Note: его, её, and их are invariable (they don’t change for gender/number/case).

2. Genitive Case for Possession

When you want to say “X’s Y” (e.g., the teacher’s book), Russian uses the genitive case of the possessor after the possessed object.

Structure:
[Possessed object] + [possessor in genitive]

Examples:

  • Книга учителя. – The teacher’s book.
  • Машина отца. – Father’s car.
  • Дом моих друзей. – The house of my friends / My friends’ house.

Genitive endings (common patterns):

Noun Type Nominative Genitive
Masculine (consonant) студент студента
Masculine (-ь) учитель учителя
Feminine (-а) книга книги
Feminine (-я) неделя недели
Neuter (-о) окно окна
Neuter (-е) море моря

3. Reflexive Possessive – свой

Use свой (instead of мой/твой/etc.) when the possessor is the subject of the sentence.

Examples:

  • Он любит свою жену. – He loves his (own) wife.
    (Not: он любит его жену – which would mean he loves someone else’s wife!)
  • Мы читаем свои книги. – We are reading our (own) books.

свой declines like мой:

  • masculine: свой
  • feminine: своя
  • neuter: своё
  • plural: свои

Summary Table

English Russian Construction
My book моя книга Possessive pronoun
The teacher’s book книга учителя Genitive case
He reads his (own) book Он читает свою книгу Reflexive possessive свой
Their house их дом / дом их Possessive pronoun их OR genitive дом их (less common)

🔹 General Rule Recap:

In Russian, when you say “X’s Y” (e.g., my mother’s car), you typically use this structure:

[Possessed noun] + [possessor in the genitive case]

The possessor (e.g., mother, father, actions) must be in the genitive case, and if a possessive pronoun like мой/твой/его etc. is used, it also agrees with the possessor in gender, number, and case—specifically, it appears in the genitive form to match the possessor.

1. "Это машина моей матери."

This is my mother’s car.

Breakdown:

  • машина – "car" (feminine noun, nominative case – the subject)
  • моей матери – "of my mother"
    • мать = "mother" (feminine noun)
    • In genitive case: матери
    • The possessive pronoun "my" must agree with "мать" (feminine, singular) in the genitive case → моей

✅ So:
мой (nominative, masc.) → моей (genitive, feminine)
мать → матери (genitive)

💡 Think of it as:
"the car of my mother" → машина [моей матери]

2. "Это молоток моего отца."

This is my father’s hammer.

Breakdown:

  • молоток – "hammer" (masculine noun, nominative)
  • моего отца – "of my father"
    • отец = "father" (masculine noun)
    • Genitive: отца
    • Possessive pronoun "my" must be genitive masculine to match отец → моего

✅ So:
мой → моего (genitive, masculine)
отец → отца (genitive)

💡 Structure:
"the hammer of my father" → молоток [моего отца]

3. "Он получил результат своих действий."

He received the result of his (own) actions.

Breakdown:

  • результат – "result" (masculine noun, accusative case here, as direct object of "получил")
  • своих действий – "of his (own) actions"
    • действия = "actions" (plural of действие, neuter noun)
    • Genitive plural: действий
    • The reflexive possessive pronoun свой is used because the possessor (he) is the subject of the sentence.
      • свой in genitive plural → своих

✅ Why своих, not его?

  • Его действий would mean "someone else’s actions" (not his own).
  • Своих действий = "his own actions" → correct when subject = possessor.

💡 Structure:
"the result of his (own) actions" → результат [своих действий]

📌 Key Takeaways:

Element Rule
Possessor (mother, father, actions) Must be in genitive case
Possessive pronoun (my, your, his own) Must agree with the possessor in gender, number, and case → so it also appears in genitive
Reflexive possession (when subject = owner) Use свой/своя/своё/свои instead of его/её/их

More Examples for Practice:

  • Это подарок твоего брата. – This is your brother’s gift.
    (брат → gen. брата; твой → gen. masc. твоего)
  • Я читаю письмо нашей бабушки. – I’m reading our grandmother’s letter.
    (бабушка → gen. бабушки; наш → gen. fem. нашей)
  • Она боится своих ошибок. – She is afraid of her (own) mistakes.
    (ошибки → gen. pl. ошибок; свой → gen. pl. своих)
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