pronoundeterminer

ihr (Possessiv zu sie, singular)

her

Mehrere Personen, die man direkt anspricht; auch: etwas gehört mehreren Personen.

Definition & meaning

ihr has several grammatical meanings depending on context and capitalization:

“you” (informal plural)
It refers to two or more people whom the speaker addresses informally. The verb is conjugated in the second-person plural.
- Ihr seid nett. — You are nice.
- Kommt ihr heute? — Are you coming today?
“her” or “to her”
As the dative form of sie “she,” ihr means “to her.”
- Ich helfe ihr. — I help her.
- Ich gebe ihr das Buch. — I give her the book.
“them” or “to them”
As the dative form of sie “they,” ihr means “to them.”
- Ich helfe ihr can only mean “I help her” in this spelling, whereas “I help them” is Ich helfe ihnen . Thus, context and grammatical form are important.
“her,” “their,” or “your” as a possessive determiner
ihr can indicate possession:
- ihr Auto — her car / their car / your car, when addressing several people informally
- ihre Kinder — her children / their children / your children
The exact meaning depends on the context and the noun’s endings.

With a capital letter, Ihr is a possessive form used in formal address, meaning “your”:

Ist das Ihr Pass? — Is that your passport?

Grammar & Word origin

ihr is a pronoun or possessive determiner.

As a personal pronoun, ihr is the nominative second-person plural form of du .
As a personal pronoun, ihr is also the dative form of sie , meaning “to her.”
As a possessive determiner, ihr corresponds to sie in the sense of “her” or “their,” and to plural ihr in the sense of “your.”

The possessive determiner changes its ending according to the gender, number, and case of the noun:

ihr Vater — her/their father
ihre Mutter — her/their mother
ihr Kind — her/their child
ihre Freunde — her/their friends

The word developed from older Germanic forms related to the pronoun sie . German distinguishes lowercase ihr for informal plural “you” from capitalized Ihr for formal “your.”

Synonyms & antonyms

There is no single exact synonym because ihr has several grammatical functions.

euch — “you” in the accusative or dative case, whereas ihr is the nominative form.
- Ihr seht uns. — You see us.
- Wir sehen euch. — We see you.
Sie — formal “you,” used for one or more people. It is more polite or formal than informal plural ihr.
- Ihr seid willkommen. — You are welcome.
- Sie sind willkommen. — You are welcome. (formal)
dein — “your” when addressing one person informally, whereas ihr can mean “your” when addressing several people informally.
Ihr — formal “your,” written with a capital letter.
sein — “his” or “its,” contrasting with ihr when the possessor is female, plural, or an informally addressed group.

There is no true antonym. In personal pronoun systems, ich “I” is the grammatical counterpart to ihr “you,” but it is not an antonym in the usual sense.