Possessives in Spanish

by Alba Castro

I'll explain the grid below a bit:

Possessive adjectives (first grid)

These are words that go before the noun (the thing owned):

Mi casa Tu mascota Su pelo - My house, Your pet, Her hair

Most of these forms agree with the thing owned only in number (singular/plural), with the exception of we (nosotros) and you guys (vosotros) form, which also agrees in gender (masculine/feminine).

That means: You'll pick the row for the specific owner (I, you, he...) and then you'll add an -s if the thing owned is plural.

And only in the "we" or "you guys" case you'll choose -o or -a ending depending of the gender as well (of the thing owned).

Mi - mis

tu - tus - NOTE (this "tu" has no accent mark/tilde)

su - sus

nuestro/nuestra - nuestros /nuestras

vuestro/ vuestra - vuestros/ vuestras

Possessive pronouns (second grid)

The pronouns replace the whole thing, the possessive adjective and the noun. This means the thing owned is not mentioned this time:

Ex:

- ¿De quién es esa casa? - Whose that house?

- Es mía -It's mine (it's my house).

We will use an article before these ones, just like we do before a noun. It's not always necessary (see latest example) but you can use it as a general rule and play it safe.

Both the article and the possessive agree with the thing owned in gender and number, so the -o/-a/-os/-as will depend on the thing owned and not the owner.

Ex: El mío La mía Los míos Las mías

Finally, feel free to save and use this grid!

You can start to practice with the task at the end of this post ;)

Practice

Fill the gaps.

Remember that when using a possessive pronoun (second grid) you need to use two words: the article and the actual possessive: Ex: El mío.

  • No sé donde está ____ (my) lapiz y por eso voy a utilizar __ ___ (his)

  • ___ (my) friends tienen sentido del humor pero ____ (yours) no son nada simpaticos.

  • Voy a ir a _____ (their) casa mañana para jugar al tenis. Van a ir tambien ___(their) amigos y tambien ____ (mine).

  • Es curioso, _______(our) gato siempre está en la terraza, incluso cuando llueve, pero a __ ___ (yours, plural owner) no le gusta el agua.

  • Me voy a sentar en esta silla aunque no es ___ (mine). Que cansada estoy!

Sol:

mi,elsuyo/mis,lostuyos/su,sus,losmios/nuestro,elvuestro/lamía