Grammar Guides / Russian / Russian Possessive Pronouns

🏠 Russian Possessive Pronouns

Russian possessives (moi, tvoi, nash, vash): say my/your/our and decline them. Free Russian grammar guide for learners with clear rules and examples.

Reference only. Russian cards are not available in Vidi.

A1 8 min read 4 sections

The Possessive Pronouns

Russian has seven possessive pronouns. The key thing to know upfront: мой, твой, наш, and ваш decline (change form) to agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. But его, её, and их never change — they stay the same no matter what.

PronounMeaningDeclines?
мойmyYes — agrees with the noun
твойyour (informal, singular)Yes — agrees with the noun
егоhis / itsNo — never changes
еёherNo — never changes
нашourYes — agrees with the noun
вашyour (formal or plural)Yes — agrees with the noun
ихtheirNo — never changes
Это мой дом. Это моя книга. Это моё окно.This is my house. (masc.) This is my book. (fem.) This is my window. (neut.)
Tip: The possessive pronoun agrees with the thing being possessed, not the person who possesses it. "My book" is "моя книга" (feminine) even if the speaker is male, because книга is feminine.

Declining мой / твой

мой and твой follow the same declension pattern. Here is the full table for мой. To get the forms of твой, simply replace м- with тв-: мой → твой, моя → твоя, моё → твоё, etc. For accusative: animate nouns use the genitive form, inanimate nouns use the nominative form.

CaseMasculineFeminineNeuterPlural
Nominativeмоймоямоёмои
Genitiveмоегомоеймоегомоих
Dativeмоемумоеймоемумоим
Accusative (anim.)моегомоюмоёмоих
Accusative (inanim.)моймоюмоёмои
Instrumentalмоиммоеймоиммоими
Prepositionalмоёммоеймоёммоих
Я говорю с моим братом. Я думаю о моей сестре.I am talking with my brother. (instrumental) I am thinking about my sister. (prepositional)
Tip: The endings of мой/твой closely mirror the adjective endings for новый. If you already know adjective declension, possessives will feel very familiar.

Declining наш / ваш

наш and ваш also follow the same pattern as each other. Here is the full table for наш. To get ваш forms, replace н- with в-: наш → ваш, наша → ваша, наше → ваше, etc.

CaseMasculineFeminineNeuterPlural
Nominativeнашнашанашенаши
Genitiveнашегонашейнашегонаших
Dativeнашемунашейнашемунашим
Accusative (anim.)нашегонашунашенаших
Accusative (inanim.)нашнашунашенаши
Instrumentalнашимнашейнашимнашими
Prepositionalнашемнашейнашемнаших
Наш учитель очень добрый. Мы любим нашу школу.Our teacher is very kind. (nominative) We love our school. (accusative)
Tip: Compare наш to мой: the endings are nearly identical. The main spelling difference is in the masculine/neuter prepositional — мой has моём (with stressed ё), while наш has нашем (with unstressed е). This follows the Russian spelling rule that after hissing consonants (ш, щ, ж, ч, ц), unstressed positions take е instead of ё. Functionally the two possessives behave the same.

его / её / их — The Easy Ones

The third-person possessives его (his/its), её (her), and их (their) never decline. They stay exactly the same regardless of the gender, number, or case of the noun they modify. This makes them the easiest possessives in Russian.

PossessiveWith Masc. NounWith Fem. NounWith Neut. NounWith Plural Noun
его (his)его домего книгаего окноего друзья
её (her)её домеё книгаеё окноеё друзья
их (their)их домих книгаих окноих друзья
Его книга на столе. Я читаю его книгу. Я говорю о его книге.His book is on the table. (nom.) I am reading his book. (acc.) I am talking about his book. (prep.) — его never changes!
Tip: Don't confuse его as a possessive ("his") with его as a personal pronoun ("him"). They are spelled the same but function differently: "Его книга" (his book — possessive) vs. "Я вижу его" (I see him — pronoun). Context always makes it clear.

Try Vidi's picture cards

Create and review cards in English, German, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

Try Vidi for Free

Related reading

Try picture cards in a supported language

Create and review cards in English, German, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

More Russian Guides

🧩
Russian Cases: The Six-Case System
Russian's six cases explained: how nouns change by role in the sentence, with clear examples. Free grammar guide for learners.
 🔄
Russian Verb Aspects: Perfective & Imperfective
Russian verb aspects: the imperfective vs perfective distinction that shapes meaning. Free Russian grammar guide for learners - clear rules and examples.
 🔤
The Russian Cyrillic Alphabet
Russian Cyrillic alphabet: all 33 letters with pronunciation, IPA, and examples. Free Russian pronunciation guide for learners - clear rules and examples.
 📝
Russian Present Tense Conjugation
Russian present tense: the two conjugation classes and how to form verbs. Free Russian grammar guide for learners: clear rules, examples, and patterns.
 📖
Russian Past Tense
Russian past tense: gender-based forms, irregulars, and aspect in the past. Free Russian grammar guide covering clear rules and examples for learners.
 🎨
Russian Adjectives & Agreement
Russian adjectives: agree in gender, number, and case across stem types. Free Russian grammar guide for learners: clear rules, examples, and patterns.
 🔮
Russian Future Tense
Russian future tense: compound imperfective and simple perfective forms. Free Russian grammar guide for learners: clear rules, examples, and patterns.
 🚶
Russian Verbs of Motion
Russian verbs of motion: unidirectional vs multidirectional pairs and prefixes. Free Russian grammar guide for learners with clear rules and examples.
 💭
Russian Conditional Mood (бы)
Russian conditional with by: hypotheticals, wishes, and polite requests. Free Russian grammar guide for learners: clear rules, examples, and patterns.
 👤
Russian Personal Pronouns (All Cases)
Russian personal pronouns declined across all six cases, including the n- rule. Free Russian grammar guide for learners with clear rules and examples.