Possessive Adjectives in -аў/-ін
Possessive Adjectives in -аў and -ін
Man → -аў: бацька → бацькаў дом. Woman → -ін/-ын: мама → мамін сшытак, сястра → сястрына сукенка.
How It Works
Besides the genitive of possession (дом бацькі), Belarusian can make the owner into an adjective. This is very common with family words and first names.
1. Choose the suffix by the owner.
- A man or a masculine noun: -аў, or -оў under stress; after a soft consonant -еў or stressed -ёў: бацька → бацькаў, дзед → дзедаў, брат → братаў, Янка → Янкаў, Ясь → Ясеў. Masculine nouns in -а, like бацька and Янка, still take -аў.
- A woman or a feminine noun in -а/-я: -ін, or -ын after the always-hard р, ж, ш, ч (see always-hard consonants): мама → мамін, бабуля → бабулін, Ганна → Ганнін, сястра → сястрын. К and ц change to ч: цётка → цётчын.
2. Agree with the thing owned. In the nominative, these adjectives use short endings:
- masculine: бацькаў дом, мамін сшытак
- feminine: бацькава хата, маміна кніга
- neuter: бацькава поле, маміна паліто
- plural: бацькавы рэчы, маміны рэчы
3. Other cases. The inanimate accusative keeps the short form (бяру маміну кнігу). The other cases use the full adjective endings: у дзедавай хаце, з маміным сшыткам. For a masculine animate object, the accusative is full too: Я бачыў мамінага брата.
When to use the genitive instead. If the owner has its own describing word, use the genitive: дом майго старэйшага брата. To ask whose something is, use чый.
Examples (6)
- Гэта бацькаў дом.
This is my father's house.
Word by Word: This father's house.
- Дзе мамін сшытак?
Where is Mom's notebook?
Word by Word: Where Mom's notebook?
- Янкава кніга ляжыць на стале.
Yanka's book is lying on the table.
Word by Word: Yanka's book lies on table.
Янка is a man's name, so -аў; кніга is feminine, so Янкава.
- Мне вельмі падабаецца сястрына сукенка.
I really like my sister's dress.
Word by Word: To-me very pleases sister's dress.
- Летам мы жылі ў дзедавай хаце.
In summer we lived in Grandpa's house.
Word by Word: In-summer we lived in grandfather's house.
In the locative, the full adjective ending -ай is used.
- Учора я бачыў мамінага брата.
Yesterday I saw Mom's brother.
Word by Word: Yesterday I saw Mom's brother.
Брат is masculine and animate, so the accusative uses the full form мамінага.
Common Mistakes
Not matching the gender of the thing owned.
Гэта маміна сшытак.Гэта мамін сшытак.The ending agrees with сшытак, which is masculine, so the short masculine form мамін is used.
Choosing the suffix by the ending instead of the owner.
Янкіна кніга ляжыць на стале.Янкава кніга ляжыць на стале.Янка ends in -а, but it is a man's name, so it takes -аў: Янкаў, Янкава.
Using the short form for an animate masculine object.
Учора я бачыў мамін брата.Учора я бачыў мамінага брата.For a masculine person in the accusative, the full ending -ага is needed.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Possessive adjectives need possession and adjective endings.
Related Patterns
- чыйQuestion Word Чый
The question word these adjectives answer.
Level 2 - мой / твойPossessives Мой and Твой
Possessive words that also agree with the thing owned.
Level 1 - Masculine Nouns in -аMasculine Nouns Ending in -а
Masculine nouns in -а, like бацька, still take -аў.
Level 3 - Always-Hard ж, ш, ч, р, цAlways-Hard Ж, Ш, Ч, Р and Ц
Why the suffix is -ын after р, ж, ш and ч.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Possessive Adjectives in -аў/-ін in Bubblegum
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