The part of the grammar page this lesson drills — read it here, then use it.
Person-based possessives and agreement
Мој and твој decline exactly alike: мој/моја/моје and твој/твоја/твоје for masculine/feminine/neuter, моји/моје/моја and твоји/твоје/твоја in the plural. Наш and ваш follow the same pattern.
Његов (his/its), њен (her) and њихов (their) also decline like adjectives, agreeing with whatever is possessed: његов ауто, његова кућа, његово село (car/house/village) - the ending tracks the object, never the owner. Њен works the same way for a female possessor: њена кућа, њен ауто, њено писмо.
Свој - the reflexive possessive
Use свој whenever the possessor is the same person as the subject of the clause, in any grammatical person - not only the third. Марко воли своју кућу. means Marko loves his own house; Марко воли његову кућу. would mean Marko loves some other man's house.
Свој declines exactly like мој/твој and, being reflexive, never has its own separate first- or second-person form - Ја читам своју књигу. (I'm reading my own book) is just as correct, and just as common, as using моју there.
| Person | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | moj | moja | moje |
| ti | tvoj | tvoja | tvoje |
| on / ono | njegov | njegova | njegovo |
| ona | njen | njena | njeno |
| mi | naš | naša | naše |
| vi | vaš | vaša | vaše |
| oni / one / ona | njihov | njihova | njihovo |