min/mit/mine

My

Level 1

min (common gender) / mit (neuter) / mine (plural) = My / Mine

How It Works

In Danish, expressing ownership with 'my' requires you to look at the noun being owned:

  • min: Used with singular common gender (n-words). Example: min bil (my car).
  • mit: Used with singular neuter gender (t-words). Example: mit hus (my house).
  • mine: Used with all plural nouns, regardless of gender. Example: mine bøger (my books).

Important Rules:
1. No Double Definiteness: When you use a possessive pronoun, the noun stays in its indefinite form. You cannot say min bilen; it must be min bil.
2. Adjective Agreement: If you add an adjective, it must take the definite -e ending. Example: min store hund (my big dog).
3. Position: These words function as both 'my' and 'mine'. Det er min bog (It is my book) and Bogen er min (The book is mine) use the same form.

Examples (5)

  1. Her er min nøgle.

    Here is my key.

    Word by Word: Here is my key.

    'Nøgle' is common gender (en nøgle), so we use 'min'.

  2. Hvor er mit pas?

    Where is my passport?

    Word by Word: Where is my passport?

    'Pas' is neuter gender (et pas), so we use 'mit'.

  3. Mine forældre bor i Danmark.

    My parents live in Denmark.

    Word by Word: My parents live in Denmark.

    'Forældre' is plural, so we use 'mine'.

  4. Bilen er min.

    The car is mine.

    Word by Word: The car is mine.

    Danish uses the same form ('min') for both 'my' and 'mine'.

  5. Mit store hus er hvidt.

    My big house is white.

    Word by Word: My big house is white.

    Notice that 'hus' is neuter (mit), and the adjective 'stor' gets an -e (store) because of the possessive.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the definite form of the noun after the possessive.

    min bilen
    min bil

    In Danish, you cannot have 'double definiteness'. The possessive word already makes the phrase definite, so the noun must be in its base form.

  • Using 'min' for neuter (t-word) nouns.

    min barn
    mit barn

    Since 'barn' is a neuter noun (et barn), you must use the 't' form: 'mit'.

  • Using 'mine' for singular nouns ending in -e.

    mine kone
    min kone

    Learners often confuse the -e ending of a noun with a plural. 'Kone' (wife) is singular, so it takes 'min'.

How It Connects

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

min/mit/mineLevel 1My

Learn This First

To use Danish possessive pronouns correctly, you must first understand that nouns have different genders (common and neuter) and plural forms, as the pronoun 'min' changes its ending to match the noun it describes.

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Words in This Pattern

minmitmine