Lesson 67. Possession: Whose House Is This?
The Idea
“Whose is this / Whose is that” is expressed two ways:
- Possessive adjective (if the owner is one word):
mamin, tatin, bratov, sestrin. - Genitive case (if the owner has extra details):
knjiga moje sestre(“my sister’s book”).
Examples (possessive adjective)
mamina torta (мамина торта)
— mom's cake
tatin auto (татин ауто)
— dad's car
bratov pas (братов пас)
— brother's dog
sestrino pismo (сестрино писмо)
— sister's letter
Examples (genitive)
knjiga moje sestre (књига моје сестре)
— my sister's book
dom mog brata (дом мог брата)
— my brother's house
centar grada (центар града)
— centre of the city
kraj reči (крај речи)
— end of the word
How to Choose
- One owner, simple name or family word → use possessive adjective.
- Owner with “my”, “your”, “this” → use genitive case.
Exercises
Exercise 1
"My brother's house":
Show explanation
Exercise 2
Translate: “This is mom’s book.”
Show answer
Two ways: Ovo je mamina knjiga. or Ovo je knjiga moje mame.
Lesson vocabulary
- mamin мамин
- mom's
- tatin татин
- dad's
- bratov братов
- brother's
- sestrin сестрин
- sister's
- kraj крај
- end, edge