Was machen sie mit ihrem Gewinn

Was machen sie mit ihrem Gewinn is translated as What (wii) you dowith your winnings.  But Ihrem is the the dative case for their.  Shouldn't the correct translation of , “What will you do with YOUR winnings , be ”Was machen sie mit EUREM Gewinn

Hallo JesephP50!

Thank you for your question!

The possessive adjective Ihrem in “Was machen Sie mit Ihrem Gewinn?” ("What (will) you do with your winnings?”) is determined by personal pronoun Sie (formal you, singular). You can spot the formal version of “you” by checking whether or not Sie / Ihrem is capitalised. 

Not capitalising sie / ihrem would turn the question into: 

“Was machen sie mit ihrem Gewinn?” - “What (will) they do with their winnings?”

This may also easily confused with sie ("she", singular):

 “Was macht sie mit ihrem Gewinn?” - “What (will) she do with her winnings?”

If you wanted to use the informal version of “you” (singular), the question would be as follows: 

“Was machst du mit deinem Gewinn?” - “What (will) you do with your winnings?”

And if you wanted to ask the same question using the informal you (plural), you would end up with:

“Was macht ihr mit eurem Gewinn?” - "What (will) you (guys) do with your winnings?”

Note that this is different to:

”Was machen sie mit eurem Gewinn?" -  "What (will) they do with your winnings?”

This may look a bit confusing at first! This is because German possessives take on different forms to reflect gender, number, and case.

Hope this clears things up a bit!

Julia

Thanks again for explaining.I can see how it works when you explain it and I can see the capitalization.  It is still pretty difficult to figure out when translating .  Oh well, that is why I am studying and tryng to learn.

Hi Joseph

I agree. That is why we are learning this. :) I keep on going back to grammar. Not always on Rocket. I use "Your German Teacher' For a lot of my grammar. On YouTube for free. I have subscribed to their site, as find their grammar lessons amazing. I subscribed, as got a workbook and textbook as well. I find their explanations in smaller bites which I then don't find overwhelming. Rocket is amazing, but the grammar lessons have so much content in one lesson I just get frustrated by it.

Happy learning

 Maxie

Thank you.  I have looked at the YouTube free version of My German Teacher (I think you mentioned it once before) and I am now thinking I will subscribe to it.  

Grammar (English) was never that great.  I know what sounds correct and make very few grammatical mistakes, but I never really understood the actual rules.  So I guess it is no surprise that I struggle with grammar in a new language.

Hi Joseph

Just found a new German lesson. YouTube: Expertly German. A native speaker. Increased my vocabulary and awareness of sentence structure.

keep well

Maxie