Possessive adjectives in Spanish are key for talking about family and friends. They show who owns or is connected to something, like "mi hermana" (my sister) or "tu amigo" (your friend).
These adjectives go before nouns and match them in number and gender. Forms include "mi" (my), "tu" (your), and "su" (his/her/their), with plural versions for multiple items or owners.
Possessive adjectives in Spanish
Usage and placement
- Possessive adjectives indicate who something belongs to or is associated with
- Placed before the noun they modify and must agree in number and gender with the noun
- Not capitalized in Spanish unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence
- When followed by a feminine singular noun that begins with a stressed "a" or "ha" sound, the masculine singular form is used instead to avoid a cacophonous sound ("el agua" instead of "la agua")
Forms of possessive adjectives
- mi (my), tu (your - informal), su (his/her/its/their - formal), nuestro/a (our), vuestro/a (your - informal plural), su (their - formal)
Forms of possessive adjectives
Singular forms
- mi (my), tu (your - informal), su (his/her/its/their - formal)
- Do not change based on the gender of the noun they modify
Plural forms
- mis (my), tus (your - informal), sus (his/her/its/their - formal), nuestros/as (our), vuestros/as (your - informal plural)
- First and second person plural possessive adjectives (nuestro/a and vuestro/a) change endings to match the gender of the noun: -o for masculine and -a for feminine
- Third person singular and plural possessive adjectives (su and sus) do not change based on the gender of the possessor, context is used to determine to whom they refer
Possessive adjectives in context
Describing family relationships
- Commonly used to describe family members ("mi madre" - my mother, "tu hermano" - your brother, "nuestros abuelos" - our grandparents)
- In some cases, the definite article (el, la, los, las) is used instead of the possessive adjective, especially with singular family members, body parts, or personal items ("Me duele la cabeza" instead of "Me duele mi cabeza" - My head hurts)
Indicating possession of objects
- Used to show ownership of items ("mis libros" - my books, "su coche" - his/her/their car, "nuestras mochilas" - our backpacks)
Expressing individual vs. collective ownership
- When referring to multiple owners who each possess one of something, the singular possessive adjective is used ("Todos trajeron su libro" - They all brought their [own] book)
- To express that multiple owners collectively own multiples of something, the plural possessive adjective is used ("Trajeron sus libros" - They brought their [shared] books)