There are three different ways to talk about our possessions in the language – “nuestras pertenencias”. First by using , second by using the preposition DE (of) and third and perhaps the most popular way by using possessive adjectives, ADJETIVOS POSESIVOS. In this grammar lesson you will learn a list of possessive adjectives in Spanish and the rules to use them appropriately in sentences to talk about the things people own. At the end of the lesson you can test if you understand the content with a short quiz. Let’s start…
Possessive adjectives, “los adjetivos posesivos”, are words that tell us to whom something belongs. In English, these words are MY, YOUR, OUR… and so on. We always place them before nouns, just like in English. We just need to be careful to use a possessive adjective that agrees with the (plural and singular) of the noun we are referring to. The picture below sums up their basic features and how they must agree in number and gender with the noun they modify.
Here is a chart of possessive adjectives in Spanish for masculine nouns in singular and plural form. A noun like CARRO (car) that is only one and masculine, would need one in singular form such as MI or SU: “Mi carro”, “Tu carro”. A noun like CARROS (cars) would need a possesive adjective in plural form which are formed by adding the letter “S” at the end of the word in singular form, e.g. SU -> SUS, MI -> MIS: “Mis carros”, “Nuestras carros…” and so on.
Singular Plural possessive adjective My My My Your Your Your His, its, your Your Your Our Our Our Your Your / Your Your / Your Their His HisFor feminine nouns the rules are almost the same, except for some possesive adjectives that change gender from masculine to feminine form to match the noun the modify, e.g. Nuestro -> Nuestra.
Singular Plural possessive adjective My My My Your Your Your Her, its, your Your Your Our Our Our Your Your / Your Your / Your Their His HisUsing “los adjetivos posesivos” in sentences is actually very simple. In order to say something like “My car is blue” we must use the corresponding possessive adjective for CARRO, MI (my), and say “Mi carro es azul”. Now, if we were talking about two cars then we would say “Mis carros son azules”. Notice how MI changes to MIS because we are talking about several objects. Remember that some of them also change their ending to -A or -O (nuestro -> nuestra) depending on the gender of the noun they modify, for example: Nuestra casa… (our house) and Nuestro amigo (our friend). Vuestro(a) is used mostly in Spain. Here are some examples:
Sentences using possesive adjectives in Spanish Mi nombre es Carlos y su nombre es Juan My name is Carlos and his name is Juan Estas cartas son mías y esas son tuyas. These cards are mine and those are yours. Mis amigos son muy divertidos. My friends are very fun ¿ Tu papá vive contigo? Does your father live with you? ¿Dónde están tus primos? Where are your cousins? Ella es una buena chica. Sus padres son amables She is a good girl. Her parents are very kind. Nuestra meta es terminar esto para el viernes. Our goal is to finish this by Friday. Nuestros patrocinadores son muy exigentes. Our sponsors are very demanding. ¿A vuestros amigos les gusta este tipo de comida? Do your friends like this type of food? Su mama y sus hermanos son tan listos Her mom and her siblings are so smart