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Lesson 15A1

Possessive Adjectives

स्वामित्व विशेषण

Dutch possessives — mijn, jouw/je, zijn, haar, and the rest — stay completely fixed no matter what noun follows, unlike Hindi's मेरा/मेरी/मेरे, which change to match the noun's gender and number.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

Dutch possessives never change; Hindi's always do

Dutch

mijn boek (my book), mijn tafel (my table), mijn boeken (my books) — 'mijn' never changes

Hindi

मेरी किताब, मेरी मेज़, मेरी किताबें — 'मेरी'/'मेरा' संज्ञा के अनुसार बदलता है

Hindi possessives agree with the noun they precede — मेरा भाई, मेरी बहन, मेरे भाई-बहन all shift form depending on the noun's gender and number. Dutch possessives are refreshingly simpler here: mijn, jouw, zijn, haar, ons/onze, jullie, and hun all stay in one fixed form regardless of what follows (with one small exception below) — no agreement to track at all.

ons vs onze — the one possessive that does split

Dutch

ons huis (our house, het-word) / onze tafel (our table, de-word)

Hindi

इस एक अपवाद के लिए हिंदी में सीधी समानता नहीं है

'Our' is the sole exception: ons is used before a singular het-word (ons huis), while onze is used everywhere else — before de-words and before any plural noun (onze tafel, onze boeken). This single split mirrors the de/het distinction itself, so once articles and gender feel comfortable, this exception becomes easy to predict.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

DutchPronunciationHindiEnglish
mijnmineमेरा / मेरी / मेरेmerā / merī / meremy
jouw / jeyow / yuhतुम्हारा / तुम्हारीtumhārā / tumhārīyour (informal)
zijnzaynउसका / उसकी (पुल्लिंग)uskā / uskīhis
haarhahrउसका / उसकी (स्त्रीलिंग)uskā / uskīher
ons / onzeons / ON-zuhहमारा / हमारीhamārā / hamārīour
jullieYUH-leeतुम लोगों काtum logoñ kāyour (plural)
hunhuhnउनकाunkātheir
ons huisons hoysहमारा घरhamārā gharour house
onze tafelON-zuh TAH-felहमारी मेज़hamārī mezour table