The declension of the 3rd person plural is identical
with the declension of the 3rd person singular feminine.
This would be quite obvious, because they have the same
possessive pronoun: ihr
Possessive pronouns
German
English
feminine
masculine
neutral
Nominative
ihre
ihrer
ihres
theirs
Genitive
not used *
not used *
not used *
of theirs
Dative
ihrer
ihrem
ihrem
to theirs
Accusative
ihre
ihren
ihres
theirs
Nominative
ihre
ihre
ihre
theirs
Genitive
not used
not used
not used
of theirs
Dative
ihren
ihren
ihren
to theirs
Accusative
ihre
ihre
ihre
theirs
*
In common language, the Genitive of the substantival possessive
pronoun is not used. There is another form of a possessive
that could be used (der ihrige, die ihrige, das ihrige),
but it sounds really antiquated. If you want to form
a Genitive of ihre
it is mostly done like in English.
Das
ist der Schlüssel von ihrem (Auto etc.).
This is the key of theirs. (their car etc.)
The same could be said with a real
Genitive and ihrige
(it's just not used commonly):
Das
ist der Schlüssel des ihrigen.
This is the key of theirs.
Example:
die Schachtel (= box) possessed object => feminine,
singular
Ich
sehe meine, aber ihre nicht.
I see mine but not theirs.
Example:
das Kleid (= dress) possessed object => neutral,
singular
Du
kannst mit ihrem hingehen.
You can go with theirs.
Example:
die Häuser (= house) possessed object =>
neutral, plural
Ich
sehe meine, aber ihre nicht.
I see mine but not theirs.
