Possessives

It is mine, yours, his, hers ... are as follows (apart from formal forms which are not covered here):

minemyne
yours (singular)joune
hissyne
hershare
oursons s'n
yours (plural)julle s'n
theirshulle s'n


The Afrikaans possessives are very similar in use to the English, and it is clearer to give some examples than explanations.

'Yours' is joune when talking to one person and julle s'n when talking to more than one person.

The hat is hersDie hoed is hare
The dogs are yours (plural)Die honde is julle s'n
The world is oursDie wêreld is ons s'n


Ownership

The above covers the case where 'the book is mine/yours' but what about 'the book is Peters'?

In this situation we want to show ownership (because Peter owns the book) s'n' is used and the easiest way to think of this is as the English 's'.

So Die boek is Piet s'n is 'The book is Peter's.'

There is also the particle se which is similar but is used where we would use of in English.

Die universiteit se boekwinkel 'The universities bookshop' which is alternatively written in English as 'the bookshop of the university'.

So much for the explanations. Here are some examples:

The book is Peter'sDie boek is Piet s'n
The universities bookshopDie universiteit se boekwinkel
The man's hatDie man se hoed
His father's son'Sy pa se soen


Adjectival Possessives

And finally there are the adjectival Possessives which are used to say my house, his name, their name and so on.

mymy
your (singular)jou
hissy
herhaar
itssy
ourons
yours (plural)julle
their (plural)hulle
their (polite plural)u


The table makes a simple idea confusing, so it is easier to look at some examples.

This is my houseDit is my huis
How was your weekendHoe was jou naweek
His name is PeterSy naam is Piet
He is his father's sonHy is sy pa se seun