30
votes
Confusion with seinem and two masculine nouns in the same sentence
Yes, the sentence indeed is ambiguous, but no, this is not an issue at all.
In fact, most sentences in most languages are in (partly) ambiguous. Our brains just automatically resolve most of these ...
- 3,012
25
votes
Accepted
The difference between "mein" and "meine"
In German, possessive pronouns adjust themselves according to the noun they are referring to. In your example, you have 'Hemden', which is plural and neutral in gender ('Das Hemd'). This changes 'Mein'...
- 752
21
votes
Accepted
Confusion with seinem and two masculine nouns in the same sentence
You're right, both can be meant, son or plaster. Use »dessen« to remove the ambiguity.
Plötzlich wollte mein Sohn aber doch den Gips vor dessen Untergang
bewahren.
Now it's clear that »dessen« ...
- 15k
16
votes
Accepted
"Unserer" oder "Unser" als eigenständiges Subjekt
Richtig ist m.E. nur „Unserer“. „Unser“ ist ein Possessivpronomen (Grundform mask. sing.: „mein“). Es kann entweder als Possessivartikel vor einem Nomen stehen:
„Unser Fernseher funktioniert nicht ...
- 13.2k
15
votes
Is "ein Herz wie das meine" an antiquated or colloquial use of the possesive pronoun?
No. It's perfectly right. You are also right supposing that the case is accusative and the gender neuter. You are wrong, however, using meinem (is dative).
In the Wiktionary
table, cf. Nicht-...
- 30.4k
12
votes
Accepted
"Deine Fotos" gegen "Fotos von dir"
Wenn man beide Beschreibungen sieht, dann ist es durchaus möglich, sie zu differenzieren:
"Deine Fotos": Die Fotos, die du selber aufgenommen (und hochgeladen) hast.
"Fotos von dir": Die Fotos, die ...
- 512
12
votes
Accepted
The use of "-en" in a specific phrase
First of all: to figure out the meaning by using translation apps, you need to take care of right spelling. In German there is a big difference between befehlen and Befehlen. The former is a verb. The ...
- 7,395
11
votes
Grammatikalische Korrektheit von »was ich von der eurigen Arbeitsstelle erwarte«
Ich rate dringend davon ab, von der eurigen Arbeitsstelle irgendwo und speziell in einem aktuellen Bewerbungsschreiben zu verwenden. Eurig wird als Fürwort verwendet, nicht adjektivisch:
Wir haben ...
- 4,594
9
votes
Accepted
“Das ist sein Pass.“ Is this sentence right?
Because it's nominative, not accusative.
Properly speaking it's a predicative nominative. It's part of the predicate but complements the subject.
[Subject] [Predicate]
{pronoun} {copular verb} {noun ...
- 38.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Why would the pronouns in this sentence have different suffixes?
In English you can say:
Is that your thigh or my thigh?
Is that your thigh or mine?
Is that yours or mine?
And you translate those sentences into German this way:
Ist das dein ...
- 112k
8
votes
Accepted
Why is it "für ihren Bruder" but not "für ihr Bruder"?
Short answer:
für asks for the accusative case, Bruder is singular masculine, so one has to use ihren there, because this is the accusative masculine singular inflection of ihr.
Additional comments:
...
8
votes
Accepted
Masculine possessive adjectives ending in nominative
The possessive pronouns (mein, dein, sein, ...) stay the same if followed by a masculine noun, not necessarily directly followed.
mein Hund
mein schöner Hund
mein schneller, schöner, toller Hund
If ...
- 16.4k
8
votes
Accepted
“Wir kaufen ein Geschenk für unsere Tante.” – why “unsere”?
The preposition für requires the Akkusativ. See here:
Source
Thus the correct answer is indeed für unsere Tante.
- 16.4k
7
votes
Accepted
When to use sein or ihr?
Its the same as in English:
The pronoun refers to the sentences subject, which is male:
Walter hat gerade Maria geheiratet.
Er (Walter) liebt seine (eigene) Frau sehr.
Walter just has ...
- 112k
7
votes
Zweideutige Possessivpronomen?
Es hängt im Beispielsatz nur am Komman, dass "der Dieb" ein Einschub ist und nicht eine dritte Person, deshalb ist die Ausgangssituation bei flüchtigem Lesen schon nicht ideal. Ich ignoriere jetzt ...
- 24.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Warum heißt es „ihrer“ und nicht „ihren“?
The sentence is parsed this way: "in einer (Dativ, singular) ihrer (Genitiv, plural) Familien".
In English it would be "in one of their (or "of her"!) families".
Note that "in einer Ihrer (...
- 4,598
7
votes
Accepted
Why "meinem" is used in "Er glaubt meinem Kind"?
From Wiktionary:
[3] »jemandem glauben« (Dativ): sich auf jemanden vertrauensvoll verlassen
The verb glauben can take both an accusative and dative object. The something you believe is accusative, ...
- 38.4k
7
votes
Is "ein Herz wie das meine" an antiquated or colloquial use of the possesive pronoun?
This use is as much antiquated as it is lyrical. It definitively is not colloquial. Some may use that occasionally but its by far not the norm.
- 249
7
votes
Accepted
Diese Leiche und seine Umstände
The word “seine” refers to “ihr Tod”, and “Tod” is masculine. Replacing “seine” the sentence would become
Und die Umstände ihres Todes sind so schön mysteriös.
- 19.1k
6
votes
Accepted
Why is it "in meinem Herzen"?
Herzen is not only the plural (in all cases), but the dative singular form, too. It belongs to a group of nouns called “weak”; see, e.g., German for English speakers or canoonet.
- 19.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Where to use or omit possessive adjectives in German vs. English
I am not completely sure about this but the rule seems to be that the dative is used instead of the possessive if the possession is inalienable. There is a Wikipedia article about this: https://en....
- 13.4k
6
votes
Do I need to repeat the possessive pronoun for a second substantive?
As far as I know, there is no grammatical rule saying that there has to be a possessive pronoun before each element in such a kind of enumeration. I rather consider it a convention, though it does ...
- 169
6
votes
Accepted
Do I need to repeat the possessive pronoun for a second substantive?
It is actually important to have the possessive pronoun in front of each word to emphasize that the roles are applying to two different persons. Usually that would be clear from the number of the verb,...
- 2,141
6
votes
One adjective for two singular nouns (same gender)
Your second alternative doesn't work in German unfortunately, although it would seem logical. The attributes have to be congruent with the nearest noun.
So it has to be
mit ihrer üblichen Schönheit ...
- 16.9k
5
votes
Accepted
Understanding "aber des einen seins war blind"
Your reading A seems to be correct (I must, however, admit I don't really understand your reading B)
Des einen seins can be ripped apart to "Das Seine des einen" and is a kind of grammatical ...
- 57.3k
5
votes
Is "ein Herz wie das meine" an antiquated or colloquial use of the possesive pronoun?
In your example, meine is a possessive adjective with a regular weak ending -e (just as in das kranke Herz). The more modern form would be
ein Herz wie meins
with a neuter possessive pronoun (...
- 22.2k
5
votes
Accepted
How do "attributiv" and "nicht attributiv" work?
Wiktionary is a bit of a mess here. Usually, attributive vs. non-attributive is a distinction made for adjectives. Attributive adjectives accompany a noun and show agreement, non-attributive ...
- 22.2k
5
votes
Accepted
"Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde" in Bach BWV 158
It is an archaism. The genitive pronoun form used to be «dein» (similarly, also «mein»). The form «deiner» (and «meiner») had become common by the 18th century, while Luther in the 16th century still ...
- 6,544
5
votes
Accepted
How could sein be the correct possessive in this case?
English "sight" means "seeing something". It is a process. This is "Blick" in German.
The eagle has the prey in sight.
Der Adler hat die Beute im Blick.
But German &...
- 112k
4
votes
"Deine Fotos" gegen "Fotos von dir"
Both "deine Fotos" and "Fotos von dir" are ambiguous, but "deine Fotos" is more likely to mean "photos that you made or own", and "Fotos von dir" is more likely to mean "photos having you as the ...
- 79
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