In Russian, we use possessives (words like “my,” “your,” and “ours”) to show ownership of something.
Это моя книга.
Eta maYA KNEEga
This is my book.
Эта книга - моя!
Eta KNEEga maYA
This book is mine!
In some ways, Russian possessives are simpler than English ones, as there is no distinction between and (e.g. моя = “my” or “mine”). However, like other Russian words, Russian possessives still come in many different forms, and learning the 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!
The basic forms of the Russian possessives are given in the table below:
Personal Pronouns | Possessive pronouns in Nominative Case** | English | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | ||
кто[kto](who) | чей?[chey] | чья?[chya] | чьё?[chyo] | чьи?[chyee] | whose? |
Я[ya](I) | мой moy | моя maYA | моё maYO | мои maEE | my / mine |
ты[ty](you) | твой tvoy | твоя tvaYA | твоё tvaYO | твои tvaEE | your / yours (inf.*) |
вы[vy](you) | ваш vash | ваша vAsha | ваше vAshe | ваши vAshi | your / yours (fml.* / pl.*) |
мы[my](we) | наш nash | наша nAsha | наше nAshe | наши nAshi | our / ours |
он[on](he) | его yeVO | his / its | |||
она[aNA](she) | её yeYO | her / hers / its | |||
оно[aNO](it) | его yeVO | its | |||
они[aNEE](they) | их eekh | their / theirs | |||
That’s a lot of forms! How do you know which one to use?
The , , and of a Russian possessive will always depend on the gender, number, and case of the owned thing. Let’s see some examples:
Это ваше мороженое?
Eta VAshe maROzhenaye
Is this your ice cream?
Ваша фамилия?
VAsha famEEliya
Your last name?
Ваш паспорт готов.
vash PASpart gaTOF
Your passport is ready.
Это его вещи, а это - ваши.
Eta yeVO VEshchi a Eta VAshee
These are his things, and those are yours.
The chart and examples above only illustrate the forms of possessives in the , but if the possessed noun is in another case, the possessive will also be in that case. Check out the examples below!
У моих родителей нет машины.
oo maEEKH raDEEtyelyey nyet maSHEEny
My parents do not have a car.
Мою квартиру нужно ремонтировать.
maYU kvarTEEru NOOZHna ryemanTEErovat
My apartment needs to be renovated.
Моего кота зовут Барсик.
mayeVO kaTA zaVUT BARsik
My cat’s name is Barsik.
Still have questions? We may have answered them in our FAQ section below!
Just like in English, Russian possessives go before the noun that is owned / possessed. For example:
Его документы находятся в моём портфеле.
yeVO dakuMENty naKHOdyatsya v maYOM partFYElye
His documents are in my briefcase.
Наши дети играют с вашей собакой.
NAshi DYEti igRAyut s Vashey saBAkoy
Our children are playing with your dog.
Моя мама переехала в ваш город.
maYA Mama pyeryeYEkhala v vash GOrad
My mother moved to your city.
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.
In certain poetic or religious contexts, and in some set phrases, the possessive can follow the possessed noun instead.
Сын мой!
syn moy
My son!
O, сад мой милый!
o sat moy MEElyy
Oh, my dear garden!
Боже мой!
BOzhe moy
My God!
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!
chyo Eta? - Eta maYO
Whose is this? - It’s mine!
Это наш офис, а это - ваш.
Eta nash Ofis, a Eta vash
This is our office, and that is yours.
В квартире было две спальни: его и моя.
V kvarTEErye Byla dvye SPALni: yeVO i maYA
There were two bedrooms in the apartment: his and mine.
Even though, in this use, the possessive is not followed by a noun, the gender, number, and case should still match the gender, number, and case of the noun that is implied. For example:
Эта книга - моя!
Eta KNEEga maYA
This book is mine!
Это офис - мой!
Eta Ofis moy Ofis
This office is mine!
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s go through a few frequently asked questions about Russian possessives, to give you some advice!
твой[tvoy], ваш[vash], and Ваш[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[ty](you (informal)) and вы[vy](you (plural or formal)):
Твой is generally used when addressing to a single person.
Где ты, и где твоя машина?
gdye ty i gdye tvaYA maSHEEna
Where are you, and where is your car?
Ваш is used when addressing...
a group of people (lowercase, unless it starts a sentence):
Уважаемые посетители, предъявите ваши документы.
oovaZHAyemyye pasyeTEEtyeli pryedyaVEEtye VAshi dakooMYENty
Dear visitors, please show your IDs.
a single person, in a very formal context (always capitalized)
В ответ на Ваш запрос ….
V atVYET na vash zapROS
In response to Your inquiry…
The words евонный[yevonnyy], ейный[yeynyy], and ихний[eekhnyy] are non-standard, colloquial forms of the possessive words его[yevo](his, its), её[yeyo](her, hers, its), and их[eekh](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.
The English possessive adjective “its” can be translated using его[yeVO] or её[yeVA]. Here is the general rule to follow:
If the possessor is a masculine or neuter noun, use его[yeVO]:
Район был безопасным, его жители даже не запирали двери.
raYON byl byezaPASnym yeVO ZHEEtyeli DAzhe nye zapiRAli DVYEri
The district was safe, its residents did not even lock the doors.
If the possessor is a feminine noun, use её[yeVA]:
Москва - гигантский мегаполис, её жители часто жалуются на пробки.
maskVA giGANskiy myegaPOlis yeYO ZHEEtyeli CHASta ZHAluyutsya na PROBki
Moscow is a gigantic megapolis, its residents often complain about traffic jams.
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.
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!
