This page is a reference card. If you want the full explanation of how standalone possessives differ from the determiner forms (my versus myne), read the possessive pronouns page — that is where the reasoning lives. Here you get the complete paradigm in one table, a worked predicative example for each form, and the single rule that explains the s'n endings, so you can look up the form you need and move on.
The complete paradigm
A standalone possessive replaces a whole noun phrase: it stands where the noun used to be (Die boek is myne — "the book is mine"). It never has a noun after it; if a noun follows, you want the determiner form (my boek) instead, covered on the determiner-versus-se page.
| Person | Determiner (with a noun) | Standalone (no noun) | English standalone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | my | myne | mine |
| 2nd singular (informal) | jou | joune | yours |
| 2nd singular (polite) | u | u s'n | yours |
| 3rd masculine | sy | syne | his |
| 3rd feminine | haar | hare | hers |
| 1st plural | ons | ons s'n | ours |
| 2nd plural | julle | julle s'n | yours (you-all's) |
| 3rd plural | hulle | hulle s'n | theirs |
Read the third column top to bottom and you see the split that organises the whole paradigm: the singular persons take an ending (myne, joune, syne, hare), while the plural persons — and the polite u — keep the pronoun and add the separate word s'n (ons s'n, julle s'n, hulle s'n, u s'n).
One example per form
Each entry below shows the form doing its core job: standing predicatively after is ("is"), with no noun following.
Hierdie sambreel is myne — joune hang by die deur.
This umbrella is mine — yours is hanging by the door.
Moenie my pen vat nie; daardie een is joune.
Don't take my pen; that one is yours.
Die rooi fiets is syne, nie die blou een nie.
The red bike is his, not the blue one.
Sy sê die plan was nog altyd hare.
She says the plan was always hers.
Daardie parkeerplek is ons s'n.
That parking spot is ours.
Die balle in die mandjie is julle s'n.
The balls in the basket are yours (you-all's).
Die honde wat daar blaf, is hulle s'n.
The dogs barking over there are theirs.
Meneer, is hierdie jas u s'n?
Sir, is this coat yours?
Notice hare in the fourth example: English speakers expect "hers" to be haar plus s, but Afrikaans builds it as haar → hare, with no extra s anywhere. And in the last example the polite u s'n keeps u untouched and simply adds s'n, exactly as the plurals do.
Why the plurals use s'n
The s'n is not an oddity to memorise blindly — it is the standalone counterpart of the se-possessive (Anna se boek, "Anna's book"). Where se expects a following noun, s'n stands alone:
Is dit jou trui? Nee, dis Anna s'n.
Is that your jumper? No, it's Anna's.
Ons kar is ouer as die bure s'n.
Our car is older than the neighbours'.
So ons s'n is literally "ours [one]", built the same way Pieter s'n means "Pieter's [one]". The apostrophe is obligatory: it marks s'n as the standalone possessive word and distinguishes it from a misspelled onsn. For the mechanics of se, see the se-possessive.
As a noun-replacer, not just predicatively
Standalone possessives also work as the subject or object of a sentence, wherever a noun has been dropped:
Myne is groter as joune.
Mine is bigger than yours.
Hulle s'n het gebreek, so hulle gebruik nou ons s'n.
Theirs broke, so now they're using ours.
In both, the possessive carries the full weight of a noun phrase — Myne is the subject, ons s'n is the object — with no noun in sight. That is the defining trait of the standalone set.
Common mistakes
❌ Die boek is my.
Incorrect — the determiner 'my' cannot stand alone; use the standalone form myne.
✅ Die boek is myne.
The book is mine.
❌ Die kar is onsn.
Incorrect — s'n is a separate word with an apostrophe: ons s'n.
✅ Die kar is ons s'n.
The car is ours.
❌ Daardie huis is hulles.
Incorrect — the plural standalone form is hulle s'n, not 'hulles'.
✅ Daardie huis is hulle s'n.
That house is theirs.
❌ Die idee is hares.
Incorrect — 'hers' is hare, with no extra s.
✅ Die idee is hare.
The idea is hers.
❌ Meneer, is hierdie jas une?
Incorrect — the polite form follows the plural pattern: u s'n, not 'une'.
✅ Meneer, is hierdie jas u s'n?
Sir, is this coat yours?
Key takeaways
- Standalone possessives replace a whole noun phrase and never take a following noun: Die boek is myne.
- Singular persons use an ending: myne, joune, syne, hare — and hare has no extra s.
- Plural persons and polite u use the separate word s'n: ons s'n, julle s'n, hulle s'n, u s'n — always with the apostrophe.
- s'n is the standalone counterpart of the se-possessive, so it works after names too (Anna s'n).
- Standalone possessives can be predicative (is myne) or a full noun-replacer subject/object (Myne is groter).
- For the determiner-versus-standalone reasoning, see possessive pronouns; for object pronouns generally, see subject and object pronouns.
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Possessive Pronouns: myne, joune, syne, hareA2 — The standalone possessives — myne, joune, syne, hare, ons s'n, julle s'n, hulle s'n — that replace a whole noun phrase, as in 'Die boek is myne' (the book is mine).
- The se-Possessive: Jan se boekA1 — How Afrikaans shows possession with the invariant marker se, the everyday equivalent of English 's.
- Possessive Determiners vs the se-ConstructionB1 — Afrikaans splits possession cleanly: pronoun owners use a determiner (my boek), while named or phrasal owners use noun + se (Jan se boek) — and the two never combine.
- Subject and Object PronounsA1 — The full Afrikaans personal pronoun set — ek/my, jy/jou, hy/hom, sy/haar and the rest — with subject and object forms and where they go in a sentence.