Moy, tvoy, svoy: whose thing it is
The possessives change for the thing, not for the owner: moy brat, moya sestra, moyo okno, moi deti. The owner picks the first word; what stands next dictates the form. For example: “Моя сестра живёт в другом городе” — My sister lives in another city. A rule from the Russian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The possessives change for the thing, not for the owner: moy brat, moya sestra, moyo okno, moi deti. The owner picks the first word; what stands next dictates the form.
Ego, eyo and ikh never change: ego sestra, ego okno, ego deti. These forms are frozen — a small break: the word does not have to move.
The central word of the topic is svoy. It appears where the owner of the thing is the one acting: Ya vzyal svoyu sumku — the bag is mine. Say Ya vzyal ego sumku and the bag is someone else's: the language draws this line hard, and the two are not interchangeable.
In living speech svoy has grown into friendship: svoy chelovek is one of us, not a stranger. Hence svoi — the people you need not stand on ceremony with.
Table
| Who | Its word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | moy | moy brat |
| you | tvoy | tvoy dom |
| he | ego | ego sestra |
| she | eyo | eyo mama |
| we | nash | nash dom |
| you (plural) | vash | vash adres |
| they | ikh | ikh deti |
| the one acting | svoy | svoyu sumku |
By example
- Моя сестра живёт в другом городеMoya sestra zhivyot v drugom gorodeMy sister lives in another city
- Я забыл свою зарядку домаYa zabyl svoyu zaryadku domaI forgot my charger at home
- Это не моя сумка, это её сумкаEto ne moya sumka, eto eyo sumkaThis is not my bag, it is her bag
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Moy, tvoy, svoy: how does it work in Russian?
The possessives change for the thing, not for the owner: moy brat, moya sestra, moyo okno, moi deti. The owner picks the first word; what stands next dictates the form.
What does it look like in a Russian example sentence?
“Моя сестра живёт в другом городе” (Moya sestra zhivyot v drugom gorode) — My sister lives in another city. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.