German word

seine

Pronunciation

IPA/ˈzaɪ̯nə/

Meaning

  • pronounhis

Example

Er hat seine Tasche vergessen.

He forgot his bag.

Illustration for seine (his)

More examples

In der Aufführung spielte er seine Rolle überzeugend.

In the performance, he played his role convincingly.

Core concept

A belonging label for one male or neuter owner, attached to one feminine item or several items.

Common phrases

  • seine Rolle

    his role

  • seine Stimme

    his voice

Similar words

meine: Indicates the speaker's ownership of a feminine singular or plural noun.
deine: Indicates one addressee's ownership of a feminine singular or plural noun.
unsere: Indicates shared ownership by the speaker and others of a feminine singular or plural noun.
Ihre: Indicates ownership by one formally addressed person of a feminine singular or plural noun.

Definition in German

Beugte Form des Possessivpronomens „sein“, verwendet vor femininen Singular- und vor allen Pluralnomen im Nominativ und Akkusativ zur Kennzeichnung von Zugehörigkeit.

Word origin

Seine is an inflected form of the inherited Germanic possessive stem sein, with the ending -e marking a feminine singular or plural form in the relevant cases.

Usage tips

  • Depending on its antecedent, seine means either 'his' or 'its', while the ending agrees with the owned noun rather than the owner.

Other meanings

  • itspronoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word