dem Papp säin Auto

Whose Is It? Dem Papp Säin Auto

Level 2

Luxembourgish says Dad's car as dem Papp säin Auto, literally to the dad his car. You can also say den Auto vu mengem Papp.

How It Works

Two choices, in order

  1. The owner goes in the dative: dem Papp, der Mamm, dem Anna, de Kanner.
  2. The possessive matches the owner, and its ending matches the owned noun:
    • a man, a masculine or neuter noun, or a woman you call hatt → säin/seng: dem Papp säin Auto, dem Anna säi Vëlo, dem Paul seng Schwëster
    • a woman you call si, or a plural owner → hiren/hir/hiert: der Mamm hiren Auto, de Kanner hir Spillsaachen

With vun
You can also put the owner after the noun with vun: den Auto vu mengem Papp. Both are correct. The dative form is very common in speech.

Asking whose
The question works the same way with wiem: Wiem säin Hond ass dat? See wiem säin.

Names
First names take the article too, and both men's and women's names use dem in the dative: dem Paul, dem Anna. See articles with names.

Examples (6)

  1. Dat ass dem Papp säin Auto.

    That is Dad's car.

    Word by Word: That is to the dad his car.

    Papp is in the dative (dem), followed by säin for a man. Auto is masculine.

  2. Der Mamm hiren Auto ass rout.

    Mum's car is red.

    Word by Word: To the mum her car is red.

    Mamm is feminine: der Mamm hiren. The n stays before the vowel of Auto.

  3. Wou sinn de Kanner hir Spillsaachen?

    Where are the children's toys?

    Word by Word: Where are to the children their toys?

    The plural dative den becomes de before K. Hir is used for a plural owner and a plural noun.

  4. Dem Anna säi Vëlo ass nei.

    Anna's bike is new.

    Word by Word: To the Anna her bike is new.

    Anna is hatt, so the possessive is säin, which becomes säi before V.

  5. Dem Paul seng Schwëster wunnt zu Esch.

    Paul's sister lives in Esch.

    Word by Word: To the Paul his sister lives in Esch.

    Schwëster is feminine, so the possessive is seng.

  6. Dat ass den Auto vu mengem Papp.

    That is my dad's car.

    Word by Word: That is the car from my dad.

    The same meaning with vun, which becomes vu before m.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the owner in the nominative.

    Dat ass de Papp säin Auto.
    Dat ass dem Papp säin Auto.

    The owner in this phrase is always in the dative, so de Papp becomes dem Papp.

  • Using dem for a feminine owner.

    Dem Mamm hiren Auto ass rout.
    Der Mamm hiren Auto ass rout.

    Mamm is a feminine noun, so its dative article is der. Women's first names are neuter, so they take dem: dem Anna.

  • Using the wrong possessive for the owner.

    Der Mamm säin Auto ass rout.
    Der Mamm hiren Auto ass rout.

    The possessive refers back to the owner. D'Mamm is si, so the possessive is hiren, not säin.

How It Connects

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

dem Papp säin AutoLevel 2Whose Is It? Dem Papp Säin Auto

Learn This First

Before Whose Is It? Dem Papp säin Auto, learn Possessives in the Dative and Her and Their: Hiren, Hir and Hiert.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

säinhir