In Danish the possessive pronouns behave much like adjectives: they stand in front of a noun and they must agree with that noun in gender and in number. The basic set consists of the first‑person singular min / mit, the third‑person masculine hans, the third‑person feminine hendes, the neuter dens, the third‑person plural deres and the first‑person plural vores. Unlike English, the Danish forms change not only with the possessor but also with the possessed noun, a pattern that becomes evident as soon as one looks at concrete examples.

1. min / mit – “my”

Because Danish nouns belong to either the common gender (most everyday objects, people and animals) or the neuter gender (many abstract concepts, some objects and many loanwords), the speaker must choose the appropriate form of “my”.

common – bogen (the book) min
Min bog ligger på bordet. (“My book is on the table.”)

neuter – hus (the house) mit
Mit hus er malet blåt. (“My house is painted blue.”)

plural – børn (children)mine
Mine børn leger i haven. (“My children are playing in the garden.”)

In spoken Danish the distinction between min and mit is sometimes blurred, but the written standard retains it.

2. hans – “his”

Hans is invariant: it never changes with the gender or number of the noun it modifies. It therefore works with both common and neuter nouns, singular and plural.

Hans bil er hurtig. (“His car is fast.” – bil is common.)
Hans hus er stort. (“His house is big.” – hus is neuter.)
Hans bøger er på hylden. (“His books are on the shelf.” – plural.)

3. hendes – “her”

Like hans, hendes stays the same regardless of the noun’s gender or number.

Hendes taske er tung. (“Her bag is heavy.”)
Hendes barn leger. (“Her child is playing.” – barn is neuter.)
Hendes venner kommer i aften. (“Her friends are coming tonight.”)

4. dens – “its”

Dens is used for neuter nouns when the possessor is a non‑human entity, often a thing, an animal of neuter gender, or an abstract concept. Danish also has dens for common‑gender nouns when the possessor is a thing that is grammatically neuter, but the most frequent pattern is neuter → dens.

Dens motor er defekt. (“Its engine is defective.” – motor is common, but the possessor is a neuter machine.)
Dens vej er glat. (“Its road is slippery.” – the road belongs to a city, which is neuter: byen.)
Dens lys er tændt. (“Its light is on.” – lys is neuter.)

5. deres – “their”

Deres is the only plural possessive that does not differentiate gender. It is used for any noun owned by a group of people (or, more rarely, a group of non‑human agents).

Deres bil er blå. (“Their car is blue.”)
Deres hus er gammelt. (“Their house is old.”)
Deres børn elsker musik. (“Their children love music.”)

6. vores – “our”

Vores works exactly like deres – it is gender‑neutral and applies to both singular and plural nouns owned collectively by the speaker and at least one other person.

Vores kontor ligger i centrum. (“Our office is in the centre.”)
Vores kat er sød. (“Our cat is cute.” – kat is common.)
Vores projekt er færdigt. (“Our project is finished.” – projekt is neuter.)

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