Russian possessive pronouns: мой, твой, наш, ваш, свой — complete A2 guide
Russian possessive pronouns are one of those grammar points you encounter in your very first lessons — and keep refining long after. My, your, his, her, our, their: in English, these words don’t change form based on the noun they modify. In Russian, it’s different: they agree in gender, number and case. In other words, they decline.
This guide covers everything you need to know about Russian possessives: the variable forms (мой, твой, наш, ваш), the invariable ones (его́, её, их), and the special case of свой — the reflexive possessive that English speakers usually discover with surprise.
Two families of possessives
In Russian, you need to distinguish two groups from the start.
Variable possessives agree with the noun they modify and decline in all cases:
- мой / моя́ / моё / мои́ (my)
- твой / твоя́ / твоё / твои́ (your — singular informal)
- наш / на́ша / на́ше / на́ши (our)
- ваш / ва́ша / ва́ше / ва́ши (your — plural or formal)
- свой / своя́ / своё / свои́ (one’s own — see below)
Invariable possessives never change, regardless of the noun’s form:
- его́ (his)
- её (her)
- их (their)
This distinction is fundamental. Keep it in mind, because it shapes everything that follows.
Variable possessives in the nominative case
Let’s start with the base forms — those used when the possessive is in the nominative case.
Мой and твой
These two possessives work in exactly the same way. They agree with the gender and number of the noun possessed (not the gender of the possessor).
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| мой | мой | моё | моя́ | мои́ |
| твой | твой | твоё | твоя́ | твои́ |
Examples:
- Мой брат рабо́тает врачо́м. (My brother is a doctor.)
- Моя́ сестра́ живёт в Пари́же. (My sister lives in Paris.)
- Моё пальто́ ста́рое. (My coat is old.)
- Мои́ друзья́ о́чень весёлые. (My friends are very cheerful.)
Наш and ваш
Same logic for the plural and formal possessives.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| наш | наш | на́ше | на́ша | на́ши |
| ваш | ваш | ва́ше | ва́ша | ва́ши |
Examples:
- Наш учи́тель о́чень хоро́ший. (Our teacher is very good.)
- На́ша кварти́ра небольша́я, но ую́тная. (Our apartment is small but cozy.)
- Ваш вопро́с о́чень интере́сный. (Your question is very interesting.)
- Ва́ши де́ти хорошо́ говоря́т по-ру́сски. (Your children speak Russian well.)
Invariable possessives: его́, её, их
Here is one area where Russian is simpler than English. Third-person possessives never change. No matter the gender of the noun they modify or the case it’s in, the form stays the same.
- Это его́ дом. (That’s his house.)
- Это его́ маши́на. (That’s his car.)
- Это его́ пальто́. (That’s his coat.)
- Это её кни́га. (That’s her book.)
- Это их дочь. (That’s their daughter.)
Never add endings to его́, её, or их.
Declension of variable possessives
Since мой, твой, наш, ваш (and свой) decline, here are their complete tables. Мой serves as the model: твой declines in exactly the same way, and so does свой.
Мой / твой / свой
| Case | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | мой | моё | моя́ | мои́ |
| Accusative (inanimate) | мой | моё | мою́ | мои́ |
| Accusative (animate) | моего́ | моё | мою́ | мои́х |
| Genitive | моего́ | моего́ | мое́й | мои́х |
| Dative | моему́ | моему́ | мое́й | мои́м |
| Instrumental | мои́м | мои́м | мое́й | мои́ми |
| Prepositional | моём | моём | мое́й | мои́х |
For твой, simply replace мо- with тво-: твоего́, твоему́, твои́м, etc. For свой, replace мо- with сво-: своего́, своему́, свои́м, etc.
A few examples in context:
- Где твой брат? (Where is your brother?) [nominative masculine]
- Он взял мою́ кни́гу. (He took my book.) [accusative feminine]
- Э́то дом твоего́ дру́га. (That’s your friend’s house.) [genitive masculine]
- Она́ написа́ла мое́й сестре́. (She wrote to my sister.) [dative feminine]
- Он уе́хал на твое́й маши́не. (He left in your car.) [instrumental feminine]
- Она́ ду́мает о своём бу́дущем. (She’s thinking about her future.) [prepositional masculine]
Наш / ваш
| Case | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | наш | на́ше | на́ша | на́ши |
| Accusative (inanimate) | наш | на́ше | на́шу | на́ши |
| Accusative (animate) | на́шего | на́ше | на́шу | на́ших |
| Genitive | на́шего | на́шего | на́шей | на́ших |
| Dative | на́шему | на́шему | на́шей | на́шим |
| Instrumental | на́шим | на́шим | на́шей | на́шими |
| Prepositional | на́шем | на́шем | на́шей | на́ших |
For ваш, same pattern: replace на́- with ва́- throughout.
Свой: the reflexive possessive
Свой is probably the possessive that surprises English speakers most, because it has no real direct equivalent in English. Its role is to signal that the thing possessed belongs to the subject of the sentence itself.
When to use свой
The basic rule is simple: when the possessor and the grammatical subject are the same person, use свой instead of мой, твой, наш, ваш.
- Я люблю́ свою́ рабо́ту. (I love my work.) not мою́
- Ты взял свой паспо́рт? (Did you take your passport?) not твой
- Мы прода́ём свой дом. (We’re selling our house.) not наш
- Вы забыли свой зонт! (You forgot your umbrella!) not ваш
Declension of свой
| Case | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | свой | своё | своя́ | свои́ |
| Accusative (inanimate) | свой | своё | свою́ | свои́ |
| Accusative (animate) | своего́ | своё | свою́ | свои́х |
| Genitive | своего́ | своего́ | свое́й | свои́х |
| Dative | своему́ | своему́ | свое́й | свои́м |
| Instrumental | свои́м | свои́м | свое́й | свои́ми |
| Prepositional | своём | своём | свое́й | свои́х |
Is saying «Я люблю́ мою́ рабо́ту» incorrect? Not exactly. But it sounds unnatural, almost emphatic — as if you’re stressing that it’s really yours and not someone else’s. In natural speech, свой is used almost systematically.
Свой in the third person: the real point
It’s in the third person that свой becomes essential, because it resolves an ambiguity that его́/её/их cannot.
With свой (the possessor is the subject of the sentence):
- Ива́н берёт свою́ су́мку. (Ivan takes his own bag.)
- Ма́ша лю́бит свою́ рабо́ту. (Masha loves her own work.)
- Они́ прода́ют свой дом. (They’re selling their own house.)
With его́/её/их (the possessor is someone else):
- Ива́н берёт его́ су́мку. (Ivan takes someone else’s bag.)
- Ма́ша лю́бит её рабо́ту. (Masha loves another woman’s work.)
- Они́ прода́ют их дом. (They’re selling someone else’s house.)
This distinction is crucial in Russian. When you hear «Саша помога́ет своему́ бра́ту», you immediately know it’s Sasha’s own brother. With «Са́ша помога́ет его бра́ту», it’s someone else’s brother.
Important: свой is never the subject
One key constraint: свой can never refer to the grammatical subject when the subject is already expressed. In other words, you cannot say «Свой дом большо́й» to mean “My house is big.” Свой always modifies a complement, never the subject itself.
Common fixed expressions with свой
Свой appears in several common phrases you’ll encounter regularly:
- По-своему́: in one’s own way. Ка́ждый де́лает э́то по-своему́. (Everyone does it in their own way.)
- На свой страх и риск: at one’s own risk. Он реши́л де́йствовать на свой страх и риск. (He decided to act at his own risk.)
- Своё де́ло: one’s own business or domain. Он зна́ет своё де́ло. (He knows his trade.)
Summary table: nominative forms
For a quick overview:
| Possessive | Masc. | Neuter | Fem. | Plural | Invariable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| my | мой | моё | моя́ | мои́ | no |
| your (sg.) | твой | твоё | твоя́ | твои́ | no |
| his | его́ | его́ | его́ | его́ | yes |
| her | её | её | её | её | yes |
| our | наш | на́ше | на́ша | на́ши | no |
| your (pl./formal) | ваш | ва́ше | ва́ша | ва́ши | no |
| their | их | их | их | их | yes |
| one’s own | свой | своё | своя́ | свои́ | no |
Common mistakes to avoid
1. Trying to decline его́, её, их
A classic mistake: by habit of declining adjectives, learners try to inflect the third-person possessives. These three forms are strictly invariable.
- ✗ Я говорю́ с ему́ дру́гом. (incorrect)
- ✓ Я говорю́ с его́ дру́гом. (his friend — invariable)
2. Confusing свой and его́/её
This is the trickiest error for English speakers. When a sentence says “he reads his book,” Russian requires precision: his own book (свою́) or someone else’s book (его́)?
- ✗ Он чита́ет его кни́гу. (he reads someone else’s book — unintended meaning)
- ✓ Он чита́ет свою́ кни́гу. (he reads his own book)
3. Using свой as the subject
Свой can never serve as the grammatical subject of a sentence.
- ✗ Свой дом о́чень большо́й. (incorrect)
- ✓ Мой дом о́чень большо́й. (My house is very big.)
4. Forgetting to decline variable possessives
Unlike его́/её/их, the possessives мой, твой, наш, ваш must agree in gender, number and case. The dative and instrumental are the most frequently forgotten.
- ✗ Я дал кни́гу мой другу́. (wrong case)
- ✓ Я дал кни́гу моему́ другу́. (dative masculine)
- ✗ Он уе́хал с моя сестрой. (wrong case)
- ✓ Он уе́хал с мое́й сестрой. (instrumental feminine)
A final word on свой
Свой has an elegant logic: it allows Russian to be precise where English is often ambiguous. When a Russian says “he forgot his passport,” they actually say either «он забы́л свой па́спорт» (his own passport) or «он забы́л его́ па́спорт» (someone else’s passport). The ambiguity simply doesn’t exist.
The most effective way to internalize свой is to get in the habit of asking one simple question before choosing: is the possessor the same person as the subject of the sentence? If yes, use свой.
This article corresponds to lesson 12 of our A2 manual. To go further with the declension of possessives across all cases, see also our guides on the genitive singular, the dative singular, and the prepositional case.
