pronoundeterminer

Ihr (Possessiv zu Sie, höflich)

your

Ein Wort für mehrere Personen, die man direkt anspricht.

Definition & meaning

Ihr is mainly the formal possessive determiner meaning “your” when addressing one or more people politely.

Ihr Name — your name
Ihre Adresse — your address
Ist das Ihr Auto? — Is that your car?

It is written with a capital letter because it belongs to the formal form of address Sie.

Depending on context, Ihr can also be:

A formal or old-fashioned form of “you”, especially in historical, literary, or ceremonial language:
Ihr seid willkommen — You are welcome.
The capitalized possessive form corresponding to ihr (“her” or “their”) when used at the beginning of a sentence. Context determines the meaning:
Ihr Hund can mean “your dog” in formal address, while ihr Hund means “her dog” or “their dog.”

Grammar & Word origin

As a formal possessive determiner, Ihr agrees with the noun that follows it in gender, number, and case:

Ihr Mann — your husband
Ihre Frau — your wife
Ihr Kind — your child
Ihre Kinder — your children
mit Ihrem Auto — with your car
wegen Ihrer Arbeit — because of your work

The forms are related to the personal pronoun Sie and are always capitalized in formal written address: Ihr, Ihre, Ihrem, Ihren, and Ihrer.

The lowercase form ihr has several different functions. It can mean “her,” “their,” “to her,” or “to them,” depending on its grammatical role. It can also mean informal plural “you” when used as a personal pronoun: ihr seid — you are.

Historically, Ihr was connected with the older second-person plural form ihr and developed into a respectful form of address.

Synonyms & antonyms

Related forms and alternatives

dein — “your” when addressing one person informally. It is less formal than Ihr.
euer — “your” when addressing several people informally.
Sie — the formal personal pronoun “you”; Ihr is its possessive form.
der Ihrige / die Ihrige — “yours,” usually more formal or emphatic than Ihr.

There is no exact grammatical antonym for Ihr. In a contrast of ownership, mein (“my”) is often used as the opposite perspective, but it is not a true antonym.

Common phrases & collocations

Ihr Name — your name
Ihre Meinung — your opinion
Ihre Frage — your question
Ihr Termin — your appointment
Ihre Bestellung — your order
Vielen Dank für Ihre Hilfe — Thank you very much for your help
Mit freundlichen Grüßen — Yours sincerely / Kind regards, commonly used in formal letters and emails