Expressing ownership can be done in several different ways in German. The main word for “to belong (to someone)” is (jemandemgehören. The German word for “to own” is besitzen. The words for “property”, “ownership” and “belongings” are Eigentum (n.) or Besitz (m.).

To the base word gehören can be added the prefix zu or dazu (zugehören — essentially “to be counted among” or “to be a component part of something”), an (angehören — essentially “to be a member of”), and hin (hingehören — essentially “to belong in a certain place”):

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Examples

Der Stift gehört mir! The pen belongs to me.

Ich besitze zwei Autos. I own two cars.

Das Haus ist mein Eigentum. The house is my property.

Der Junge gehört zu der Gruppe da hinten. The boy is part of the group back there.

Dieser Deckel gehört zu dieser Flasche. This lid belongs to this bottle.

Ich gehöre der Familie an. I am a member of that family.

Das gehört nicht da hin. That does not belong there.

Good to Know

The word gehören is related to the German word for “to hear” (hören) — likely in the sense of listening to and following orders.

About the Author Stephan

Stephan has been a professional language teacher since the early 2000s. He's been calling Berlin his home since 2006, when he started managing (and founding his own) language schools in addition to teaching German and English. He's the owner of Deutschable and loves writing about language, history, and game changers.

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