Possessive pronouns are used to show ownership. They indicate who the owner of a certain thing is. Those Pronouns can accompany, describe and replace a noun. When they accompany and describe a noun they are also known as Possessive Adjectives.                 

Example:

• Mi coche es nuevo – My car is new (observe that “mi” accompanies and describes the noun “coche”)

Possessive pronouns used after nouns can also be used alone, without the noun they’re referring to. When they replace the noun and are used alone, they are accompanied by definite articles (except if they come after verb to be) or by the neutral article and have masculine, feminine, singular and plural forms.

Example:

• Mi coche es nuevo. El tuyo es viejo – My car is new. Yours is old. (In the first sentence “mi” accompanies and describe the object “coche”. In the second sentence observe that “tuyo” is masculine, replaces the word “coche” and it is used along with the definite article “el”)

Very important: Possessive Pronouns agree in gender and number with the possessed thing, not with the owner.  

Study the charts below: 

Click on the arrow to listen how to pronounce the word in Spanish

Important Notes:

·         Observe that the possessive adjectives mi, tu and su do not have masculine and feminine forms.

Examples:

·         Mi padre – My father

·         Tu padre – Your father

·         Su padre – Your (formal) father / His father / Her father / Their father (observe the context to distinguish to whom the possessive pronoun is referring to)

·         Nuestro padre – Our father

Important Notes:

·         Suyo(s) / suya (s) have four different meanings: his, hers, theirs and yours (formal)

Examples: Note that in the examples below the possessive pronouns are used without article, because they come after verb to be

·         El coche es mío. The car is mine

·         El coche es tuyo. The car is yours.

·         El coche es tuyo. The car is his / hers/ theirs / yours (formal)

·         El coche es nuestro. The car is ours.

More Examples: Note that in the examples below the possessive pronouns are used with definite articles

·         Mi casa es verde. La tuya es roja. My house is green. Yours is red.

·         Tu casa es verde. La mía es roja. Your house is green. Mine is red.

·         Nuestra casa es blanca. La suya es azul. Our house is white. His / hers / theirs/ yours (formal) is blue.

·         Su casa es blanca. La nuestra es azul. His / hers / theirs/ yours (formal) house is white. Ours is blue.

In Spanish it is not necessary to use possessive pronouns before body parts.

Example:

Rompi el brazo. (I broke my arm). You can observe that there is no possessive pronoun along with the body’s part.