Possessive Adjectives

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Adjetivos posesivos

Spanish  possessive adjectives are used in front of nouns to indicate to whom or to what those nouns belong. They are considerably more complicated than English possessive adjectives because Spanish has several different forms depending on the gender and number of the possessed noun.

Por ejemplo…

Estamos escuchando mi música.		We’re listening to my music.
He perdido mis llaves.		I lost my keys.

Characteristics of Spanish possessive adjectives

1. Used in place of an article, not with one
2. Placed directly in front of a noun or an adjective + noun
3. Must agree with the possessed noun in number and sometimes gender
4. Possessive adjective + noun can be replaced by a possessive pronoun
5. Come in two different sets: short/unstressed forms (explained here) and long / stressed forms.

Short forms of Spanish possessive adjectives

		Singular		Plural
		masc	fem	masc	fem
my		mi	mi	mis	mis
your (tú)		tu	tu	tus	tus
his, her, your (Ud.)		su	su	sus	sus
our		nuestro	nuestra	nuestros	nuestras
your (vosotros)		vuestro	vuestra	vuestros	vuestras
				sus	sus
their, your (Uds.)		su	su

Spanish has many more possessives than English. For 2nd and 3rd person plural subjects (nosotros, vosotros), there are four forms of the possessive. The gender and number of the possessed noun determine which form to use.

		Our	Your
masc sing		nuestro libro	vuestro libro
fem sing		nuestra mesa	vuestra mesas
masc plural		nuestros libros	vuestros libros
fem plural		nuestras mesas	vuestras mesas

Singular subjects (I, you, he) and third person plural (they) have only two forms: singular and plural.

		My	Your	His / Her / Their
sing		mi libro	tu libro	su libro
plural		mis mesas	tus mesas	sus mesas

 An important difference between Spanish and English is in the third person. In English you have to choose between his, her, its, and their, whereas in Spanish there is no distinction by gender, only by number. Su and sus can each mean his, her, its, your, or their depending on the context. Su cama can mean his bed, her bed, its bed (e.g., the dog’s), your bed, or their bed. To clarify, you can use the possessive de.

Por ejemplo …

Tengo su libro.
¿De quién?
El libro de Ana.

When describing two or more nouns, a possessive adjective must be used in front of each one.

Por ejemplo …

his brother and sister

su hermano y su hermana

 Possessive Adjectives Quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on Spanish possessive adjectives:

• Micro kwiz
• La comunidad Wichi*

* Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless Spanish account to take this test. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

 Related lessons

• Possessive de
• Long possessive forms
• Spanish possession
• Adjectives

 Spanish lesson plans

• Possessive Adjectives (Worksheet, 8th-9th grade)
• Possessive Adjectives (Worksheet, 9th-10th grade)
• Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns (PPT, 6th-12th grade)
• Silly Family Trees (Worksheet, 9th-10th grade)
   

 En français

• Adjectifs possessifs
   

 In italiano

• Aggettivi possessivi
   

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