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What is the difference between the statements:

  1. Was ist deine Adresse?
  2. Was ist du Adresse?

I am confused on the usage of deine vs du. Although the translator translates both to "What is your address?" in the above statements, the first statement sounds more convincing but I do not have any explanation!

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    The difference is that the first translates to What is your address while the second translates to What is you address, which is obviously wrong in both English and German.
    – Janka
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 23:48
  • "Was hast Du für eine Adresse?" wäre die äquivalente Frage zu 1 mit Du. Man fragt aber auch statt 1 eher "Wie ist Deine Adresse". Wenn man 2 Zettel mit Adressen hätte, dann könnte man sie jmd. zeigen und fragen "Was ist Deine Adresse?"
    – user unknown
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 4:11
  • 3
    @Robert: Sicher, dass sich Deine Bemerkung nicht verirrt hat?
    – user unknown
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 4:20
  • @userunknown The OP cannot differentiate du from deine. I do not think that he understands your comment.
    – Ad Infinitum
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 11:20
  • The difference is: #1 is correct, #2 is wrong.
    – Hubert Schölnast
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 15:26

2 Answers 2

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"Deine" (your) is the possessive form and modifies "Adresse."

"Du" (you) is nominative form, doesn't modify anything, and is out of place in the context of "Was ist die Adresse?"

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  1. is correct, translating to "What is your address?"

  2. is incorrect, literally translating to "What is you address?", so "deine" is the possessive pronoun of "du" and is used whenever the following noun ("Adresse") belongs to this person.

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