njegov / njezin / njihov

His Her and Their

Level 1

Njegov means his or its, njezin means her or its, and njihov means their. The antecedent selects the possessive, which then agrees with the possessed noun.

How It Works

First identify the owner: njegov for a masculine or neuter singular referent, njezin for a feminine singular referent and njihov for a plural referent. Then choose the gender, number and case form required by the possessed noun.

For example, njezin telefon and njezina knjiga can both belong to Ana. The noun’s gender determines the ending; it does not change the owner from a woman to a man.

Njihov does not distinguish an all-female group from an all-male group of owners. The reflexive possessive svoj has a different function: it normally sends the ownership relation back to the clause’s subject. Use the direct third-person possessive when that reference is the intended one.

For example, dijete is neuter, so its toys can be njegove igračke. A nonhuman feminine antecedent still selects njezin; English may translate that relationship with its.

Examples (4)

  1. Njegov brat živi u Rijeci.

    His brother lives in Rijeka.

    Njegov agrees with masculine brat.

  2. Njezina knjiga je ovdje.

    Her book is here.

    Njezina agrees with feminine knjiga.

  3. Njihovo dijete spava.

    Their child is sleeping.

    Njihovo agrees with neuter dijete.

  4. Njezini prijatelji dolaze.

    Her friends are coming.

    Njezini is masculine plural agreement.

How It Connects

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

njegov / njezin / njihovLevel 1His Her and Their

Learn This First

Extend possessed-noun agreement from my/your to his/her/their.

Words in This Pattern

njegovnjezinnjihov