In Russian, we use possessives (words like “my,” “your,” and “ours”) to show ownership of something.
- Это моя книга.Transcription: Eta maYA KNEEgaTranslation: This is my book.
- Эта книга - моя!Transcription: Eta KNEEga maYATranslation: This book is mine!
In some ways, Russian possessives are simpler than English ones, as there is no distinction between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns (e.g. моя = “my” or “mine”). However, like other Russian words, Russian possessives still come in many different forms, and learning the agreement pattern can be tricky.
In this post, we’ll go through the Russian possessives, discuss how and when they change forms, and talk about some of the trickier rules and distinctions. Let’s see how they work!
What are the Russian possessives?
The basic forms of the Russian possessives are given in the table below:
| Personal Pronouns | Possessive pronouns in Nominative Case** | English | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Я transcribed yameaning I | мой Transcription: moy | моя Transcription: maYA | моё Transcription: maYO | мои Transcription: maEE | my / mine |
| ты transcribed tymeaning you | твой Transcription: tvoy | твоя Transcription: tvaYA | твоё Transcription: tvaYO | твои Transcription: tvaEE | your / yours (inf.*) |
| вы transcribed vymeaning you | ваш Transcription: vash | ваша Transcription: vAsha | ваше Transcription: vAshe | ваши Transcription: vAshi | your / yours (fml.* / pl.*) |
| мы transcribed mymeaning we | наш Transcription: nash | наша Transcription: nAsha | наше Transcription: nAshe | наши Transcription: nAshi | our / ours |
| он transcribed onmeaning he | его Transcription: yeVO | his / its | |||
| она transcribed aNAmeaning she | её Transcription: yeYO | her / hers / its | |||
| оно transcribed aNOmeaning it | его Transcription: yeVO | its | |||
| они transcribed aNEEmeaning they | их Transcription: eekh | their / theirs | |||
That’s a lot of forms! How do you know which one to use?
The gender, number, and case of a Russian possessive will always depend on the gender, number, and case of the owned thing. Let’s see some examples:
- neuter singularЭто ваше мороженое?Transcription: Eta VAshe maROzhenayeTranslation: Is this your ice cream?
- feminine singularВаша фамилия?Transcription: VAsha famEEliyaTranslation: Your last name?
- masculine singularВаш паспорт готов.Transcription: vash PASpart gaTOFTranslation: Your passport is ready.
- Это его вещи, а это - ваши.Transcription: Eta yeVO VEshchi a Eta VAsheeTranslation: These are his things, and those are yours.Remember that его meaning his/its, её meaning her/hers/its, and их meaning their/theirs do not change form for gender or number!
The chart and examples above only illustrate the forms of possessives in the nominative case, but if the possessed noun is in another case, the possessive will also be in that case. Check out the examples below!
- genitive pluralУ моих родителей нет машины.Transcription: oo maEEKH raDEEtyelyey nyet maSHEEnyTranslation: My parents do not have a car.
- feminine singularМою квартиру нужно ремонтировать.Transcription: maYU kvarTEEru NOOZHna ryemanTEErovatTranslation: My apartment needs to be renovated.
- masculine singular (animate)Моего кота зовут Барсик.Transcription: mayeVO kaTA zaVUT BARsikTranslation: My cat’s name is Barsik.
Still have questions? We may have answered them in our FAQ section below!
How to use Russian possessives in a sentence?
Just like in English, Russian possessives go before the noun that is owned / possessed. For example:
Because Russian possessives match the case, number, and gender of the possessed noun, this means that you need to think ahead to the following noun when you are using possessives.
However, unlike English words like “my” or “their,” you can also use Russian possessives without a following noun. In this use, we would translate the Russian possessives using words like “mine” or “theirs” instead. For example:
- Чьё это? - Это моё!Transcription: chyo Eta? - Eta maYOTranslation: Whose is this? - It’s mine!
- Это наш офис, а это - ваш.Transcription: Eta nash Ofis, a Eta vashTranslation: This is our office, and that is yours.
- В квартире было две спальни: его и моя.Transcription: V kvarTEErye Byla dvye SPALni: yeVO i maYATranslation: There were two bedrooms in the apartment: his and mine.
Russian possessives: FAQs
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s go through a few frequently asked questions about Russian possessives, to give you some advice!
What is the difference between твой, ваш, and Ваш?
твой transcribed tvoy, ваш transcribed vash, and Ваш transcribed vash are all possessives that translate to “your” or “yours.” The difference between them is based on the difference between the Russian personal pronouns ты transcribed tymeaning you (informal) and вы transcribed vymeaning you (plural or formal):
Твой is generally used when addressing to a single person.
Где ты, и где твоя машина?Transcription: gdye ty i gdye tvaYA maSHEEnaTranslation: Where are you, and where is your car?about one personВаш is used when addressing...
a group of people (lowercase, unless it starts a sentence):
Уважаемые посетители, предъявите ваши документы.Transcription: oovaZHAyemyye pasyeTEEtyeli pryedyaVEEtye VAshi dakooMYENtyTranslation: Dear visitors, please show your IDs.ваши is not capitalizeda single person, in a very formal context (always capitalized)
В ответ на Ваш запрос ….Transcription: V atVYET na vash zapROSTranslation: In response to Your inquiry…Ваш is always capitalized in this context
What are евонный, ейный, and ихний?
The words евонный transcribed yevonnyy, ейный transcribed yeynyy, and ихний transcribed eekhnyy are non-standard, colloquial forms of the possessive words его transcribed yevomeaning his, its, её transcribed yeyomeaning her, hers, its, and их transcribed eekhmeaning their, theirs:
евонный ≈ его
ейный ≈ её
ихний ≈ их
Unlike the standard possessive words (его / её / их) these non-standard words do change their endings depending on the gender, number, and case of the possessed noun.
When to use его vs. её for “its”?
The English possessive adjective “its” can be translated using его transcribed yeVO or её transcribed yeVA. Here is the general rule to follow:
If the possessor is a masculine or neuter noun, use его transcribed yeVO:
masculineРайон был безопасным, его жители даже не запирали двери.Transcription: raYON byl byezaPASnym yeVO ZHEEtyeli DAzhe nye zapiRAli DVYEriTranslation: The district was safe, its residents did not even lock the doors.Район is not animate, but it is grammatically masculineIf the possessor is a feminine noun, use её transcribed yeVA:
feminineМосква - гигантский мегаполис, её жители часто жалуются на пробки.Transcription: maskVA giGANskiy myegaPOlis yeYO ZHEEtyeli CHASta ZHAluyutsya na PROBkiTranslation: Moscow is a gigantic megapolis, its residents often complain about traffic jams.Москва is not animate, but it is grammatically feminine
Check out our post on gender in Russian if you want to brush up on why some nouns for things in Russian are still grammatically masculine or grammatically feminine.
To sum up
In this post we discussed the possessive words in Russian. In particular, we saw that:
Russian possessive words are used in two main cases:
To describe a noun, like “my” or “their” → In this case they generally come directly before the possessed noun.
To replace a noun, like “mine” or “theirs” → here they are used without a following noun.
Russian possessives agree with the possessed noun in gender, number, and case.
Ready for the next step? Try practicing what you’ve learned using the activities below!
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