Possessives in Spanish Grammar

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What are possessives in Spanish?

Possessives adjectives and pronouns (los posesivos) indicate possession or belonging.

Possessive adjectives (adjetivos posesivos) have two forms, a short form and a long form. Short-form possessive adjectives come before a noun and long-form possessive adjectives come after a noun.

Possessive pronouns (pronombres posesivos) replace a noun.

Learn how to use Spanish possessive adjectives and pronouns with Lingolia, then practise using them in the exercises.

Example

Acabo de conseguir mi primer trabajo y estoy muy contenta. Todavía vivo con mis padres, pero en nuestra casa tengo mucha libertad.

Por suerte, mi trabajo está muy cerca y puedo ir todos los días en bicicleta. Como la mía está estropeada, mi hermano me ha prestado la suya. Todo sea dicho: su bicicleta es mucho más cómoda.

Mis padres tienen un negocio juntos en el centro de la ciudad y está bastante lejos, así que ellos tienen que ir en su coche cada mañana.

A la vuelta del trabajo, recojo flores del campo para decorar la cocina. Las hortensias son sus flores favoritas.

¿Y tú, tienes la suerte de ir a tu trabajo en bicicleta?

Possessive agreement in Spanish

Spanish has a possessive for each grammatical person (1st, 2nd and 3rd) in both singular and plural and some forms have separate masculine and feminine forms.

Spanish possessives reflect:

  • the grammatical person of the possessor (1st, 2nd or 3rd person singular or plural)
  • the grammatical gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun that is possessed
Examples:
Nuestra casa está en el campo. Our house is in the countryside.
possessor: 1st person plural (mi familia y yo); noun being possessed: feminine singular (casa) = nuestra
Nuestro coche es eléctrico. Our car is electric.
possessor: 1st person plural (mi familia y yo); noun being possessed: masculine singular (coche) = nuestro
Nuestros perros son adoptados. Our dogs are adopted.
possessor: 1st person plural (mi familia y yo); noun being possessed: masculine plural (perros) = nuestros

Possessive adjectives in Spanish grammar

Possessive adjectives in Spanish grammar have two forms: long and short.

Short possessive adjectives come before a noun and long possessive adjectives come after a noun.

Short possessive adjectives

The short forms of possessive adjectives come before a noun, just like possessive determiners in English grammar (e.g. my, your, his …).

Examples:
mi trabajo = my job
su coche = their car

Like standard adjectives in Spanish, possessive adjectives also agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. (Note: only the 1st and 2nd person plural have separate masculine and feminine forms).

Examples:
Acabo de conseguir mi primer trabajo.I just got my first job.
Su bicicleta es más cómoda.His bike is more comfortable.
Mis padres tienen un negocio en el centro. My parents have a business in town.
En nuestra casa tengo mucha libertad.In our house I have a lot of freedom.
Person (possessor) Singular Plural
1st person singular mi mis
2nd person singular tu tus
3rd person singular su sus
1st person plural nuestro/-a nuestros/-as
2nd person plural vuestro/-a vuestros/-as
3rd person plural su sus

Possessive adjectives: long forms

The long forms of Spanish possessive adjectives come after the noun they modify.

Example:
una amiga mía = a friend of mine

We use the long forms when the noun they modify appears together with an article, demonstrative pronoun or adjective.

Long-form possessive adjectives also agree in gender and number with the noun to which they refer.

Examples:
Es una amiga mía.She’s a friend of mine.
Estos amigos nuestros nos recomendaron ese hotel.These friends of ours recommended this hotel.
Me gusta mucho esa autora. He leído varios libros suyos. I really like this author. I’ve read several books of hers.
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
1st person singular mío mía míos mías
2nd person singular tuyo tuya tuyos tuyas
3rd person singular suyo suya suyos suyas
1st person plural nuestro nuestra nuestros nuestras
2nd person plural vuestro vuestra vuestros vuestras
3rd person plural suyo suya suyos suyas

Long-from possessive adjectives are used with the verb ser when the noun forms part of the subject of a sentence.

Examples:
Esa bicicleta es suya.This watch is mine.
possessor: 1st person singular (yo); noun being possessed: feminine singular (la bicicleta) = suya
Los cuadros de la pared son nuestros.The pictures on the wall are ours.
possessor: 1st person plural (nosotros); noun being possessed: masculine plural (los cuadros) = nuestros

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns (los pronombres posesivos) replace a previously-mentioned noun, just like English possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers …).

Example:
es el mío = it’s mine

Spanish possessive pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they are replacing and are introduced by the definite article (el, la, los, las).

Examples:
Esta no es mi bicicleta, es la suya.It’s not my bike, it’s his.
Mi bicicleta está rota, ¿puedo usar la tuya?I can’t find my skirt. Can I borrow yours?
Person Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
1st person singular el mío la mía los míos las mías
2nd person singular el tuyo la tuya los tuyos las tuyas
3rd person singular el suyo la suya los suyos las suyas
1st person plural el nuestro la nuestra los nuestros las nuestras
2nd person plural el vuestro la vuestra los vuestros las vuestras
3rd person plural el suyo la suya los suyos las suyas