его/её/их

Indeclinable Possessive Pronouns Его, Её, Их

Level 2Sounds Like ego/eë/ih kak pritâžatelʹnye

Russian uses его (his/its), её (her), and их (their) to indicate possession. Unlike other possessives, these three never change their endings.

How It Works

In Russian, most possessive adjectives like мой (my) must change to match the noun they describe. However, его, её, and их are unique because they are indeclinable.

  • его: Used when the owner is masculine or neuter (his/its).
  • её: Used when the owner is feminine (her/its).
  • их: Used when the owners are plural (their).

Pro Tip: Pronunciation
In the word его, the letter г is pronounced like a [v] sound: ye-vó.

Key Rules:
1. No Agreement: Whether you say 'his book' (его книга) or 'in his books' (в его книгах), the word его stays exactly the same.
2. The 'n-' Rule: When a personal pronoun follows a preposition, it usually adds an н- (e.g., у него - he has). However, when used as a possessive, this н- is never added. You say у его брата (at his brother's), not у него брата.
3. Gender of 'Its': Russian uses его or её based on the grammatical gender of the object that owns something. For example, since 'компания' is feminine, you use её for 'its' (e.g., её прибыль).

Important: Его/её/их vs. Свой
Russian makes a distinction between 'his/her/their' and 'one's own'. If the subject of the sentence is the owner, you should generally use the reflexive possessive 'свой'.

  • Иван любит свою жену: Ivan loves his (own) wife.
  • Иван любит его жену: Ivan loves his (someone else's) wife.

Examples (5)

  1. Я знаю его брата.

    I know his brother.

    Word by Word: I know his brother.

    Even though 'брата' is in the accusative case, 'его' remains unchanged.

  2. Мы были в её машине.

    We were in her car.

    Word by Word: We were in her car.

    The noun 'машине' is in the prepositional case, but 'её' does not change.

  3. Где их дети?

    Where are their children?

    Word by Word: Where their children?

    'Их' is the standard way to say 'their' and is used for all genders and cases.

  4. Я живу в его доме.

    I live in his house.

    Word by Word: I live in his house.

    Note that 'его' precedes the noun it modifies.

  5. У её кошки есть игрушка.

    Her cat has a toy.

    Word by Word: At her cat is toy.

    Notice there is no 'н' after the preposition 'у' because 'её' is acting as a possessive here, not a personal pronoun.

Common Mistakes

  • Using его/её/их when you mean the subject's own thing. This changes the meaning.

    Different MeaningИван любит его жену.
    Иван любит свою жену.

    «Иван любит его жену» is correct Russian, but it means Ivan loves another man's wife. To say Ivan loves his own wife, use the reflexive possessive 'свой'.

  • Adding the 'n-' prefix after a preposition.

    Я был у него друга.
    Я был у его друга.

    The 'n-' prefix is only for personal pronouns. Possessive pronouns never take the 'n-' prefix, even after prepositions.

  • Using the non-standard form ихний.

    Это ихний дом.
    Это их дом.

    The form 'ихний' is considered non-standard and uneducated. Always use 'их' in standard Russian.

How It Connects

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

его/её/ихLevel 2Indeclinable Possessive Pronouns Его, Её, Их

Learn This First

To understand these possessive pronouns, learners must first be familiar with the third-person personal pronouns (he, she, it, they) from which they are derived. Unlike other Russian possessives, these forms are indeclinable, meaning they do not change their endings to match the gender or number of the noun they modify.

Words in This Pattern

еёих