nire / zure / haren / gure / zuen / haien

Possessive Pronouns

Level 1

Put the possessive before the noun and keep the article: nire etxea (my house), gure herria (our town).

How It Works

  • ni (I) → nire (my)
  • zu (you) → zure (your, one person)
  • hura (he, she, it) → haren (his, her, its)
  • gu (we) → gure (our)
  • zuek (you all) → zuen (your, more than one person)
  • haiek (they) → haien (their)

The noun keeps its article. Say nire etxea (my house) and nire lagunak (my friends). Case endings go at the end of the phrase: nire etxean (in my house), gure herrira (to our town). See the definite article -a.

zure or zuen. zure is your for one person, and zuen is your for two or more.

bere. In the third person there is also bere (his own, her own), used when the owner is the subject of the same sentence. See bere and haren.

Standing alone. With the article, the possessive becomes a pronoun: nirea (mine), zurea (yours). See mine and yours.

In some regions and in older texts you will also see nere and ene for my. The standard form is nire.

Examples (6)

  1. Hau nire etxea da.

    This is my house.

    Word by Word: This my house is.

  2. Zure lagunak oso jatorrak dira.

    Your friends are very nice.

    Word by Word: Your friends very nice are.

  3. Gure herria txikia da.

    Our town is small.

    Word by Word: Our town small is.

  4. Zuen irakaslea Bilbokoa da.

    Your teacher is from Bilbao.

    Word by Word: Your(pl) teacher Bilbao-of-the is.

    zuen is your when speaking to more than one person.

  5. Haien semea Londresen bizi da.

    Their son lives in London.

    Word by Word: Their son London-in living is.

  6. Nire amarekin bizi naiz.

    I live with my mother.

    Word by Word: My mother-the-with living I-am.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the article after the possessive.

    Nire lagun Bilbon bizi da.
    Nire laguna Bilbon bizi da.

    The noun after a possessive still needs the article: nire laguna.

  • Using zure when speaking to two or more people (intended meaning: your house, said to a couple).

    Zure etxea polita da.
    Zuen etxea polita da.

    zure is for one person. For two or more, use zuen.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

nire / zure / haren / gure / zuen / haienLevel 1Possessive Pronouns

Learn This First

Possessive pronouns combine the genitive and the pronouns.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

nirezureharengurehaien