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Spanish Possessive Adjectives

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Infographics of Spanish Possessive Adjectives




What are Possessive Adjectives?

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In English Possessive adjective is one of the words my, your, his, her, its, our, or their, used with a noun to show that one person or thing belongs to another.

 

TIP:

Possessive adjectives agree with what they describe NOT with the person who owns that thing.

Pablo ha perdido su boligrafoPablo has lost his pen.
Pablo ha perdido sus boligrafos.Pablo has lost his pens.

 

Note that possessive adjectives aren't normally used with parts of the body. You usually use the definite article instead.
Tiene los ojos verdes.He's got green eyes.
No puedo mover las piernas.I can;t move my legs.

TIP:

As su and sus can means his, her, its, your or their, it can sometimes be a bit confusing. When you need to avoid confusion, you can say the Spanish equivalent of of him and so on.

Sa casala casa de el

His house

(literally: the house of him)

sus amigoslos amigos de usted

Your Friends

(literally: the friends of you)

sus cocheslos coches de ellos

Their cars

(literally: the cars of them)

su abrigoel abrigo de ella

her coat

(Literally: the coat of her)

  • Donde esta tu hermana? =Where's your sister?

  • Jose ha perdido su cartera. =Jose has lost his wallet.









Possessive Adjective Examples

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  • Like other adjectives in Spanish, possessive adjectives have to change for the feminine and plural forms.
Singular masculineFemininePlural masculineFemineMeaning
mimimismismy
tututustusyour (belonging to someone you address as tu)
sususussushis; her; its; your (belonging to someone you address as usted)
nuestronuestranuestrosnuestrasour
vuestrovuestravuestrosvuestrasyour (belonging to people you address as vosotros/vosotras)
sususussustheir; your (belonging to people you address as ustedes)

The Spanish possessive adjectives are:

  • mi/tu/su/nuestro/vuestro/su with a masculine singular noun.
  • mi/tu/su/nuestros/vuestra/su with a feminine singular noun
  • mis/tus/sus/nuestros/vuestros/sus with a masculine plural noun
  • mis/tus/sus/nuestras/vuestras/sus with a feminine plural noun

Possessive adjectives come before the noun they refer to. They agree with what they describe, rather than with the person who owns that thing.

 

Possessive adjectives are not usually used with parts of the body.

Use el/la/los or las as appropriate instead.

To Avoid confusion, it is sometimes clearer to use el coche de el/ella/ellas/ellos/usted and so on rather than su coche.

  • Donde estan nuestros pasaportes? =Where are our passports?

  • Por que no traeis a vuestros hijos? =Why don't you bring your childrens?

  • Mis tois estan vendiendo su casa. =My uncle and aunt are selling their house.









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