Possessive adjectives in Spanish

Subjects | Spanish Notes | Spanish Grammar

Introduction

⇒ Spanish possessive adjectives are adjectives that indicate who or what possesses or owns something.

⇒ There are two different forms of Spanish possessive adjectives: short-form and long-form adjectives.

Short-form Possessive Adjectives

⇒ Short-form possessive adjectives are the most common way to express possession

⇒ They must agree with the noun they describe in gender and number

⇒ This doesn't end up being too complicated, because only nosotros and vosotros have distinct masculine and feminine forms.

Adjective Type	Masculine Singular Form	Masculine Plural Form	Feminine Singular Form	Feminine Plural Form
First person singular (yo)	mi	mis	mi	mis
Second person informal singular (tú)	tu	tus	tu	tus
Second person formal singular (usted)	su	sus	su	sus
Third person singular (él, ella)	su	sus	su	sus
First person plural (nosotros)	nuestro	nuestros	nuestra	nuestras
Second person plural (vosotros)	vuestro	vuestros	vuestra	vuestras
Second person plural (ustedes)	su	sus	su	sus
Third person plural (ellos, ellas)	su	sus	su	sus

⇒ Mi is an example of a short-form possessive adjective with only two distinct forms.

mi libro
my book

mis libro
my books

mi bolsa
my bag

mi bolsas
my bags

⇒ Nuestro is an example of a short-form possessive adjective with four distinct forms.

nuestro perro
our dog

nuestros perros
our dogs

nuestra casa
our house

nuestras casas
our houses

⇒ More examples of short-form possessive adjectives:

⇒ Nuestro is an example of a short-form possessive adjective with four distinct forms.

Mi amigo peruano es guapo.
My Peruvian friend is handsome.

¿Dónde están tus libros?
Where are your books?

¿Son sus niños?
Are they your children?

Nuestra casa es muy grande.
Our house is very big.

Vuestras flores son muy bonitas.
Your flowers are very beautiful.

Su carro está allá.
Their car is over there.

Tricky cases

⇒ In Spanish, possessive adjectives are normally not used when talking about body parts.

⇒ They're also often not used when talking about abstract concepts or something that it is obvious that only the speaker could possess.

⇒ Instead, you'll see a definite article used in Spanish, though in English translations a possessive adjective may be used.

BODY PARTS:

Me duele el brazo.
My arm hurts.

Tienes los ojos verdes.
Your eyes are green.

Don Simón tenía algo en la mirada que hacía a la gente hacer las cosas.
Don Simon had something in his eyes that made people do things.

La muchacha había perdido la ilusión por los estudios.
The girl had lost her enthusiasm for her studies.

Me voy a la casa.
I’m leaving for (my) home.

Se me caen los pantalones.
My pants are falling down.

POSSESSIVE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES:

⇒ Since su be translated so many ways (his, her, formal singular your, their, formal plural your), it is sometimes helpful to use a prepositional phrase with personal pronouns or names instead.

For example, the sentence Atlanta es la capital de Georgia. (Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.) is more explicitly clear than Atlanta es su capital. (Atlanta is its capital.)

⇒ Here's how to form this type of possessive phrase:

Possessive Prepositional Phrase Formula
definite/indefinite article + entity possessed + de + pronoun/name of possessor

Es la silla de él.
It's his seat.

La casa de Elena está allí.
Elena's house is there.

La pizzería de Alán está cerrada.
Alan's pizzeria is closed.

Long-form Possessive Adjectives

⇒ Long-form possessive adjectives are used to emphasize the owner of something, to contrast one owner with another, or to emphasize a personal relationship

⇒ They must match the noun they modify in both gender and number in all forms.

⇒ They are used less often than short-form possessive adjectives, but you should still know them.

Adjective Type	Masculine Singular Form	Masculine Plural Form	Feminine Singular Form	Feminine Plural Form
First person singular (yo)	mío	mís	mía	mías
Second person informal singular (tú)	tuyo	tuyos	tuya	tuyas
Second person formal singular (usted)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas
Third person singular (él, ella)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas
First person plural (nosotros)	nuestro	nuestros	nuestra	nuestras
Second person plural (vosotros)	vuestro	vuestros	vuestra	vuestras
Second person plural (ustedes)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas
Third person plural (ellos, ellas)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas

⇒ Long-form possessive adjectives are placed after the noun they modify.

⇒ In the case of long-form possessive adjectives, you do often use an article (such as el or la) before the adjective if you are talking about a common noun.

⇒ Check out these examples:

¡Dios mío!
My God!/My goodness!

¿Dónde están esos zapatos tuyos?
Where are those shoes of yours?

Esta es mi silla y aquella es la silla tuya.
This is my chair and that one is your chair.