Pronouns and Possessives in Russian: я, ты, мой, твой
The Russian personal pronouns and possessive words, and which of them change with gender and number.
Pronouns and possessives let you talk about yourself and others.
Personal pronouns
| Pronoun | Romanised | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| я | ya | I |
| ты | ty | you (informal) |
| он | on | he |
| она | ona | she |
| оно | ono | it |
| мы | my | we |
| вы | vy | you (formal or plural) |
| они | oni | they |
Possessives that change
These agree with the noun they describe:
| Meaning | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| my | мой | моя | моё | мои |
| your (informal) | твой | твоя | твоё | твои |
| our | наш | наша | наше | наши |
| your (formal or plural) | ваш | ваша | ваше | ваши |
Examples: мой брат (my brother), моя сестра (my sister), моё имя (my name), мои родители (my parents).
Possessives that do not change
- его (yevo), his
- её (yeyo), her
- их (ikh), their
They never change, whatever the noun: его книга, её книга, их книга.
The noun decides
Agreement follows the thing owned, not the owner. A woman says мой брат, since брат is masculine.
Reflexive possessive
свой means "one's own", and refers back to the subject. Я люблю свою работу means "I love my job". It is a more advanced point, worth noticing in reading.
Tips
- Learn the table of мой, твой, наш, ваш.
- Remember его, её and их do not change.
- Use the dictionary to check each form.
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