Spanish possessive pronouns
A possessive pronoun is one of the words like mine, yours, hers his…, in English, which are used instead of a noun to show that one person or thing belongs to another. First, let’s see what possessive pronouns are in Spanish and how to use them.
How to use possessive pronouns in Spanish
- In the chart above you can see the Spanish possessive pronouns which agree with what they describe, NOT with the person who owns that thing. For example, el suyo can mean his, her, yours or theirs, but can only be used to replace a masculine singular noun.
- After ser use mío, tuyo, etc (without the article) to mean mine, your, etc.
– ¿De quién es la cartera? (Who the wallet is it?)
– Es mía (It is mine).
Only use the article after ser when the sense is my one, your one, etc. Compare:
Pregunta a Ana si este abrigo es suyo (Ask Ana if this coat is hers).
Pregunta a Ana si este abrigo es el suyo (Ask Ana if this coat is her one).
- Instead of el suyo/la suya/los suyos/las suyas, it is sometimes clearer to say el/la/los/las de usted/él/ella/ustedes/ellos/ellas. You choose between the definite article to agree with the noun referred to.
Mi libro y el de usted (my book and yours).
Mis amigas y las de ella (my friends and hers).
- El/la/los/las can also be used with a name or other noun referring to somebody.
Lola tiene un jardín muy bonito, pero yo prefiero el de Marisa (Lola’s got a nice garden but I prefer Marisa’s).
Ellos tienen un coche muy rápido, pero yo prefiero el de mi jefe (they’ve got a fast car but I prefer my boss’).
- Don’t mistake the possessive pronouns with possessive adjectives, those ones always go before a noun.
Esta no es mi chaqueta, la mía es azul (This is not my jacket, mine is blue).
Possessive pronouns exercises
Now we will practice everything we have learned with the activities below. Please, leave us a message if you want us to prepare more exercises about this topic. Remember to contact your tutor if you have any questions. Don’t you have a private Spanish tutor yet?