hans / hennar / okkar / ykkar / þeirra

His, Her, Our and Their

Level 1

hans (his), hennar (her), okkar (our), ykkar (your, plural) and þeirra (their) never change. Put them after the noun: bíllinn hans (his car).

How It Works

The words.

  • hans: his (from hann)
  • hennar: her (from hún)
  • okkar: our (from við)
  • ykkar: your, when you talk to more than one person (from þið)
  • þeirra: their (from þeir, þær, þau)

They never change. These are the genitive forms of the personal pronouns, so the noun does not affect them: bíllinn hans (masculine), íbúðin hans (feminine), húsið hans (neuter), börnin hans (plural). The noun itself still changes with case, as in Ég þekki mömmu hennar (I know her mom).

Word order. As with minn, the usual order is noun with the article, then the possessive: börnin okkar (our children). Family words usually drop the article: mamma hennar (her mom), bróðir hans (his brother).

His own. When the owner is also the subject of the sentence, Icelandic uses sinn instead of hans or hennar. Hann seldi bílinn sinn means he sold his own car, but Hann seldi bílinn hans means he sold another man's car. See sinn.

Examples (6)

  1. Þetta er bíllinn hans.

    This is his car.

    Word by Word: This is car-the his.

  2. Húsið hennar er í Kópavogi.

    Her house is in Kópavogur.

    Word by Word: House-the her is in Kópavogur.

  3. Börnin okkar eru í skólanum.

    Our children are at school.

    Word by Word: Children-the our are in school-the.

  4. Er þetta hundurinn ykkar?

    Is this your dog?

    Word by Word: Is this dog-the your(pl)?

    ykkar is used when talking to more than one person.

  5. Íbúðin þeirra er mjög falleg.

    Their apartment is very nice.

    Word by Word: Apartment-the their is very beautiful.

  6. Ég þekki mömmu hennar.

    I know her mom.

    Word by Word: I know mom her.

    mamma changes to mömmu as an object, but hennar stays the same.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the subject pronoun hann or hún instead of the possessive.

    Þetta er bíllinn hann.
    Þetta er bíllinn hans.

    hann means "he". To show that something belongs to him, use the genitive form hans.

  • Putting the possessive before a noun that has the attached article.

    Hans bíllinn er nýr.
    Bíllinn hans er nýr.

    A noun with the attached article cannot have hans in front of it. Put hans after the noun.

  • Adding endings to hennar or þeirra to match the noun.

    Íbúðin þeirrar er stór.
    Íbúðin þeirra er stór.

    Only minn, þinn and sinn change their endings. þeirra, hans, hennar, okkar and ykkar always stay the same.

How It Connects

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

hans / hennar / okkar / ykkar / þeirraLevel 1His, Her, Our and Their

Learn This First

The other possessives build on minn and the pronouns.

Words in This Pattern

hanshennarokkarykkarþeirra