Possessive pronouns in Ukrainian are used to indicate ownership or possession of a noun. They are declined to match the gender and number of the noun they are modifying.

Example sentences with possessive pronouns:

Він мій ба́тько. – He is my father.
Вона́ моя́ ма́ти. – She is my mother.
Вони́ мої́ батьки. – They are my parents.
Мій брат і твоя́ сестра́. – My brother and your sister.
Ва́ші і на́ші діти. – Your and our children.
Його́ син студе́нт. – His son is a student.
Його́ дочка́ вчи́телька украї́нської мо́ви. – His daughter is a teacher of Ukrainian language.
Як зва́ти її́ бра́та? – What is her brother’s name?
Його́ зва́ти Мико́ла. – His name is Mykola.
Зві́дки ї́хні батьки́? – Where are their parents from?

When to use “свій”?

This can be an obstacle for foreigners. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject is directing the action towards himself. Depending on the context, “свій” can mean “my”, “your”, “his”, etc. We use “cвій” to show that the object belongs to the subject.

• “Cвій” is interchangeable with other possessive pronouns (мій, наш, твій, ваш) in sentences with 1st or 2nd person pronouns (я, ми, ти, ви) as the subject.

Я чита́ю мою́ кни́гу. – I read my book.
Ми чита́ємо на́шу кни́гу. – We read our book.
Я чита́ю свою́ кни́гу. – I read my (own) book. (The book belongs to me)
Ми чита́ємо свою́ кни́гу. – We read our (own) book. (The book belongs to us)

• With 2nd person singular (ти) it’s preferable to use “свій”.

Ти ремонту́єш свій комп’ютер? – Are you fixing your computer?

• “Cвій” is not interchangeable with pronouns “his, her, their”.

Вона́ чита́є її́ кни́гу. – She is reading her book. (The book belongs to someone else, e.g. her friend’s book)
Вона́ чита́є свою́ кни́гу. – She is reading her book. (The book belongs to her)
Я чита́ю свою́ кни́гу, а вона́ сво́ю. – I am reading my book and she is reading hers. (The book I read belongs to me and the book she reads belongs to her).

Note: The reason “мою/свою” is used in the examples above, instead of “моя/своя“, is because “the book” is in the accusative (objective) case. Please check the table at the bottom of the page.

Моя́ кни́га на моє́му столі́. – My book is on my table. (моя is in nominative case, моєму is in locative);
Його́ телефо́н у його́ су́мці. – His phone is in his bag. (“його” stays the same in all cases)

“Свій” and the subject must be in the same clause.

Вона́ ка́же, що її́ кни́га ціка́ва. – She says that her book is interesting. (“її́” is used here instead of “своя́” because “кни́га” is part of a subordinate clause.)

Declensions of possessive pronouns

“Мій“, “твій” and “свій” are declined with the same endings (e.g. моя, твоя, своя; моїм, твоїм, своїм, etc.).

“Наш” and “ваш” are declined like the adjective of the hard group.
“ї́хній” is declined like the adjective of the soft group.
Note: “його” and “її” are never declined.