Possessive adjectives in Spanish (A1)

Possessive adjectives in Spanish

Possessive adjectives in Spanish (LOS ADJETIVOS POSESIVOS), like those of English, are a way of indicating who owns or is in possession of something. Their use is straightforward, although they (like other adjectives) must match the nouns they modify in both number and gender.

Here’s a simple animated video explanation of using possessive adjectives for Spanish learners. There are a lot of similarities with English, but it’s not quite exactly the same. You’ll notice right away. Let’s start with the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJQxR4mUj2Y

Spanish possessive adjectives examples

Now we are going to double-check everything we have learned in the video, with many examples.

•  mi, mis (my): Voy a visitar a mi familia (I am going to visit my family). Voy a visitar a mis amigos (I am going to visit my friends).
• tu, tus (you – singular familiar): Quiero conocer a tu familia (I want to meet your family). Quiero conocer a tus amigos (I want to meet your friends).
• su, sus (your – singular or plural formal -, its, his, her, their): Voy a su oficina (I am going to his/her/your/their office)
• nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras (our): Es nuestra casa (It is our house). Son nuestros hijos (they are our children).
• vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras (you are – plural familiar): ¿Dónde están vuestros hijos? (Where are your children?). Este no es vuestro coche (this is not your car).

1. Note that the Spanish possessive adjectives vary by number and gender. The change is with the nouns they modify, not with the person(s) who own or possess the object. Thus you would say «his book» and «her book» in the same way: su libro. Some examples:

• Es nuestro coche. (It is our car.) 
• Es nuestra casa. (It is our house.)
• Son nuestros coches. (They are our cars.)
• Son nuestras casas. (They are our houses.)

2. As you might imagine, su and sus can be ambiguous, since they can mean «his,» «her,» «its,» «your» or «their.» If the use of su or sus doesn’t make the sentence clear, you can use de followed by a prepositional pronoun instead:

• Quiero comprar su coche. (I want to buy his/her/your/their car.)
• Quiero comprar el coche de él. (I want to buy his car.)
• Quiero comprar el coche de ella. (I want to buy her car.)
• Quiero comprar el coche de usted. (I want to buy your car.)
• Quiero comprar el coche de ellos. (I want to buy their car).-.

Possessive adjectives exercises

Now you can practice everything you have learned with the exercises below. Remember you can contact your tutor for any question you have about Possessive adjectives in Spanish. Don’t you have a Spanish personal tutor yet?

Now that you feel more confident about possessive adjectives, we are going to move to possessive pronouns