Thread: question about possesive pronoun spelling

In my Russian study book, it shows the possessive pronouns to be:

его
её
их

but when I am using the Rosetta Stone learning software, it shows them to be

него
неё
них

Why is the letter ‘н’ being added in Rosetta Stone???? Thanks!

What's the whole sentence with "него/неё/них"? Probably it's not the possessive form; it could be the genitive.

У них газета.
У него кошка.
У неё собака.

Thank you Оля. You are being very helpful!

When you use a pronoun as a sign of possession always use "его", "её", "их", etc.:
his book - его книга ("него книга" is wrong)
in his book - в его книге
their house - их дом
behind their house - за их домом
her friend - её друг
with her friend - с её другом
etc.

"Него", "неё", "них", "ними", etc. are used as a case form (not a sign of possession) mainly in two situations:
1) after simple prepositions: без, в, для, до, за, из, к, на, над, о, от, по, под, перед, при, про, с, у, через;
2) after adverbial prepositions (i.e. prepositions that refer to time or location): возле, вокруг, впереди, мимо, напротив, около, после, посреди, сзади, and some others that require genitive case afterwards.

There are also a few cases when both forms are acceptable (no need to remember them, especially if you are just a beginner), but in most other cases it's "его", "ее", "ими", etc. (without 'н').

Examples:
У него сегодня день рождения. Знаешь, сколько ему лет?
Я многое о них знаю, но об их семье я ничего не слышал. - I know a lot about them, but I haven't heard anything about their family. (note the difference!)
Я рад, что мы пошли в парк без него
Когда я остановился возле неё, ее собака меня укусила - When I stopped near her, her dog bit me.

more precise:

genitive case
без него, в него, для него, до него, за него, из него, на него, от него, под него, про него, с него, у него, через него, but я уважаю _ его.

instrumental case
перед ним, над ним, под ним, перед ним, с ним, but я горжусь _ им.

dative case
к нему, по нему, but я дал _ ему.

prepositional case
о нём, при нём.

Originally Posted by delog

genitive case
без него, в него, для него, до него, за него, из него, на него, от него, под него, про него, с него, у него, через него, but я уважаю _ его.

в него, на него, под него, через него, я уважаю его is not genitive, it's accusative.

Originally Posted by delog

[...]
but я уважаю _ его. ...
but я горжусь _ им. ...
but я дал _ ему.

No need to "but" here. Yes, it should be "его", "им", "ему" here, but it's not an exception to the rule - it IS a rule (the one I posted above).

Morover you create a false impression that these verbs are somewhat unique, exceprional, while they can be replaced with any other verb that require a certain case and doesn't require a preposition aftewards (see the rule). And there are probably hundreds of them:

я уважаю его, я люблю его, я вижу его, я слушаю его, я ударю его, etc.
я горжусь им, я любуюсь им, я рисую им, я пишу им, я машу им, etc.
я дал ему, я рассказал ему, я показал ему, я приказал ему, etc.

Originally Posted by Оля

is not genitive, it's accusative.

Precisely, it is my fault, in fact there are cases with identical questions, therefore it is impossible to define case only according to questions, that I have done.
И.п. Кто? Что?
Р.п. Кого? Чего?
В.п. Кого? Что?

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

No need to "but" here. Yes, it should be "его", "им", "ему" here, but it's not an exception to the rule - it IS a rule (the one I posted above).

Yes, I know. That is not exceptions. I had knowingly put a sign "_" to show, that if there is no preposition the pronoun varies.

Originally Posted by SoftPretzel

У них газета.
У него кошка.
У неё собака.

These are not possessive pronouns.
They are personal pronouns - они, он, она - in genitive case.
They are used similar to "he" in "he has a cat". "He" is not a possessive pronoun. "His" ("его" in Russian) is.

Thanks to everyone for their helpful responses!!!