Possessive Determiners and Possesive Pronouns
Possessives, as their name suggests, indicate possession or that something belongs to someone. If the possessive accompanies a noun, then it is a possessive determiner. If the noun is omitted, it is a possessive pronoun.
Native
Translation
Esa es mi mochila.
That is my backpack.
Esa mochila es mía.
That backpack is mine.
Possessive Determiners (Unstressed) - Usage and Form
There are two types of possessive determiners in Spanish: tonic (or stressed) and atonic (or unstressed). Tonic or stressed possessive determiners always follow the noun that designates the thing possessed. In this grammar point, we will just cover unstressed possesive determiners to avoid confusion, and talk about tonic possessive determiners when we get to a higher language level.
Rule 1. We use unstressed possessive determiners to indicate that an object belongs to someone.
Native
Translation
Estoy buscando mi vestido verde.
I am looking for my green dress.
Rule 2. Possessive determiners correspond to the grammatical persons.
| Subject Pronoun | Possesive determiner |
|---|---|
| yo | mi(s) |
| tú* | tu(s) |
| él, ella, usted | su(s) |
| nosotros, nosotras | nuestro(s), nuestra(s) |
| vosotros, vosotras | vuestro(s), vuestra(s) |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | su(s) |
*Note that the possessive determiner of tu doesn't have an accent mark to differentiate it from the subject pronoun.
Rule 3. All possessive determiners must agree in number. In the case of nosotros(as) and vosotros(as), they must also agree in gender.
Native
Translation
Su gato es muy tranquilo.
His cat is very calm.
Nuestros perritos son muy adorables.
Our puppies are very adorable.
Possessive Pronouns - Usage and Form
Rule 4. Possessive pronouns do not complement the noun. Instead, they substitute it to avoid repetition. They require a definite article and have to agree in both gender and number with the noun they are substituting.
Native
Translation
No es mi falda, es la suya.
It's not my skirt, it's hers.
Rule 5. Each person has a pronoun. In this case, since their function is to substitute a noun, they all have a gender and number, in contrast with the possessive determiners.
| Subject Pronoun | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| yo | el mío, la mía | los míos, las mías |
| tú | el tuyo, la tuya | los tuyos, las tuyas |
| él, ella, usted | el suyo, la suya | los suyos, las suyas |
| nosotros, nosotras | el nuestro, la nuestra | los nuestros, las nuestras |
| vosotros, vosotras | el vuestro, la vuestra | los vuestros, las vuestras |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | el suyo, la suya | los suyos, las suyas |
Native
Translation
No me gusta mi platillo, me gusta más el suyo.
I don't like my dish, I like hers better.
Sus mascotas son muy cariñosas, las nuestras son más traviesas.
Their pets are very affectionate, ours are more mischievous.
Quiz
1/3
___________ perro es pequeño. (my)
0
correct answers.