Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use Russian possessive pronouns correctly, including the genuinely unique reflexive possessive “свой.”
Lesson Explanation
Russian possessive pronouns agree in gender and number with the NOUN THEY DESCRIBE (the thing possessed), not with the possessor — a genuinely important agreement principle already seen for Italian’s cuyo-equivalent structures in an earlier-built Gabal course’s Spanish material, though Russian applies it to ordinary possessives, not just relative pronouns.
Мой/моя/моё/мои (my — masc./fem./neut./plural), твой/твоя/твоё/твои (your, informal), наш/наша/наше/наши (our), ваш/ваша/ваше/ваши (your, formal/plural). Genuinely important: его (his), её (her), and их (their) DON’T change at all regardless of the noun’s gender or number, unlike the pronouns above — they are frozen genitive forms of the personal pronouns (Part 3, Lesson 4), not true agreeing adjectives: его книга (his book), его дом (his house) — “его” stays identical either way.
A genuinely distinctive Russian feature with no direct equivalent in the other languages covered in this course catalog: свой is a special reflexive possessive meaning “one’s own,” used specifically when the possessor is the same as the subject of the sentence, regardless of person: Он читает свою книгу. (He is reading his [own] book.) Compare this to Он читает его книгу. (He is reading his [someone else’s] book) — a genuinely meaningful distinction that English “his” cannot make without extra context, but Russian marks grammatically every time.
Practice Questions
1. With what do Russian possessive pronouns agree — the possessor, or the thing possessed?
View Answer
The thing possessed.
2. Write the masculine form of “my.”
View Answer
Мой.
3. Write the feminine form of “our.”
View Answer
Наша.
4. Do “его” (his), “её” (her), and “их” (their) change according to the possessed noun’s gender?
View Answer
No, they stay frozen regardless.
5. What are “его,” “её,” and “их” grammatically, rather than true agreeing adjectives?
View Answer
Frozen genitive forms of the personal pronouns.
6. Which earlier lesson covered these genitive pronoun forms?
View Answer
Part 3, Lesson 4.
7. What does “свой” mean?
View Answer
“One’s own.”
8. When is “свой” used, specifically?
View Answer
When the possessor is the same as the subject of the sentence.
9. Write “He is reading his own book,” using “свой.”
View Answer
Он читает свою книгу.
10. Write “He is reading his (someone else’s) book,” using “его” instead.
View Answer
Он читает его книгу.
11. Can English “his” make this same own/someone-else’s distinction without extra context?
View Answer
No.
12. Does Russian mark this distinction grammatically every time, unlike English?
View Answer
Yes.