“Mi casa es tu casa” (“My home is your home”) – almost everyone knows this popular Spanish expression. Grammatically speaking, it provides information about the owner, which requires the use of either Spanish possessive adjectives or possessive pronouns.
Although they are similar to English, differentiating between these two parts of speech is not always a piece of cake.
If the tricky little words like “mío”, “tuyo”, “vuestro”, “su” or “sus” make you dizzy, keep reading. In today’s post, you’ll find many useful tips and examples that will hopefully get you through the jungle of Spanish possessive adjectives and pronouns.
Ways of Asking About the Owner in Spanish
If you want to know who a certain object belongs to, you have to ask one of the following questions:
🇪🇸 ¿De quién es este (lápiz, libro, perro)?
🇬🇧 Whose (pen, book, dog, etc.) is this?
For feminine nouns, change “este” for “esta”:
🇪🇸 ¿De quién es esta (casa, bufanda, cartera)?
🇬🇧 Whose (house, scarf, handbag) is this?
When you ask about more than one object, e.g. “zapatos” (shoes), the Spanish verb “SER” will conjugate to the 3rd person plural.
🇪🇸 ¿De quién son estos zapatos?
🇬🇧 Whose shoes are these?
The answer to any of those questions will, in many cases, require the use of either a possessive adjective or a possessive pronoun.
Spanish Possessive Adjectives
Like any other adjective in Spanish, possessive adjectives have genders (masculine and feminine) and can change their number from singular to plural.
If the noun they refer to is singular and masculine, like “un perro” / a dog, the possessive adjectives are also singular and masculine.
Yet, if you replace one dog with two, the corresponding possessive adjective will become plural.
And if instead of the dog, you want to mention the owner of a house, which is feminine in Spanish, you’ll have to make your possessive adjective feminine, too.
All Spanish Possessive Adjectives – Complete Table
If you are still uncertain about what possessive adjectives really are, the table below will show you their complete list in Spanish:
| yo | tú | él, ella, usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos, ellas, ustedes | |
| Singular Masculine | mi perro | tu lápiz | su carro | nuestro jardín | vuestro gato | su patio |
| Singular Feminine | mi casa | tu bicicleta | su cama | nuestra canción | vuestra hija | su idea |
| Plural Masculine | mis errores | tus bolsos | sus libros | nuestros zapatos | vuestros padres | sus vecinos |
| Plural Feminine | mis amigas | tus camisas | sus preguntas | nuestras sillas | vuestras vidas | sus plantas |
Key Things to Remember about Spanish Possessive Adjectives
- They always require the company of a noun.
- They are used before the noun they describe.
- The masculine singular and the feminine singular nouns use the same possessive adjective, except nuestro / nuestra and vuestro / vuestra.
- the possessive adjectives “su” and “sus” can translate as his, her, your (formal), and their.
- The English word “your” has multiple Spanish equivalents, depending on the number of owners and the number of possessions: tu, vuestro/a, su (formal), tus, vuestros/as, sus (formal).
- For plural nouns, the possessive adjectives add the letter “s” at the end.
- For plural feminine nouns, “nuestros” changes to “nuestras” and “vuestros” changes to “vuestras”.
How to use Spanish Possessive Adjectives – Examples
Let’s see how the rules and tips above work with a few sample sentences:
Mi, Mis – My
🇪🇸 Mi perro es muy juguetón.
🇬🇧 My dog is very playful.
🇪🇸 Mi amiga me ha invitado al concierto de Shakira mañana.
🇬🇧 My girlfriend has invited me to Shakira’s concert tomorrow.
🇪🇸 ¿Cuántos de tus amigos vienen a la fiesta?
🇬🇧 How many of your friends are coming to the party?
🇪🇸 Todas mis blusas están manchadas.
🇬🇧 All of my blouses are stained.
Su, Sus – His, Her, Their, Your
🇪🇸 Te presento a Alex y su novia.
🇬🇧 Let me introduce Alex and his wife.
🇪🇸 A María no le gusta su pelo.
🇬🇧 María doesn’t like her hair.
🇪🇸 Juan y Pedro están remodelando su patio.
🇬🇧 Juan and Pedro are redesigning their patio / backyard.
🇪🇸 ¡Bienvenido a nuestro hotel! Está es la llave de su habitación.
🇬🇧 Welcome to our hotel. This is the key to your room.
🇪🇸 Test Your Spanish Knowledge 🇪🇸
🇪🇸 Estimados, por favor esperar con sus preguntas hasta el final de la presentación.
🇬🇧 Dear all, please hold your questions until the end of the presentation.
Tu, Tus, Vuestro, Vuestra, Vuestros, Vuestras – Your
Isn’t it fascinating to see how many Spanish equivalents can a little word “your” have? Have a look:
🇪🇸 ¿Tú me puedes prestar tu lápiz?
🇬🇧 Can you lend me your pen? – referring to one person
Pay attention to the difference between “tú” and “tu“. The first one is a personal pronoun and the letter “u” has an accent, while the second one is a possessive adjective and comes without an accent.
🇪🇸 Lavé tus camisas pero no las voy a planchar.
🇬🇧 I’ve washed your shirts but I am not going to iron them.
🇪🇸 ¿Cómo se llama vuestro gato?
🇬🇧 What’s your cat’s name? – the cat has more than 1 owner
🇪🇸 ¿Cuántos años tiene vuestra hija?
🇬🇧 How old is your daughter? – the question is directed to both parents
🇪🇸 ¿Cómo os lleváis con vuestros vecinos?
🇬🇧 Do you get along with your neighbors? – the question is directed to more than 1 person
🇪🇸 Quisiera contar vuestras historias en un libro.
🇬🇧 I’d like to tell your stories in a book. – stories of more than 1 person
Nuestro, Nuestra, Nuestros, Nuestras – Our
The word “our” , just like “my” has 4 English synonyms:
🇪🇸 Nuestro jardín está lleno de flores.
🇬🇧 Our garden is full of flowers.
🇪🇸 ¡Escucha! Están tocando nuestra canción.
🇬🇧 Listen up! They are playing our song!
🇪🇸 ¡Mira! Nuestros zapatos son iguales.
🇬🇧 Look! Our shoes are the same!
🇪🇸 Parece que alguien se ha llevado nuestras sillas.
🇬🇧 It looks like someone has taken our chairs.
“Sillas” is an example of household vocabulary. How many other Spanish words to describe the furniture and house parts do you know?
Spanish Possessive Pronouns
Difference Between Spanish Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives
First of all, let’s clarify the difference between a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun:
- Possessive adjectives go before the noun and possessive pronouns go after the noun:
🇪🇸 Esta es mi casa – possessive adjective
🇬🇧 This is my house.
but
🇪🇸 Esta casa es mía – possessive pronoun
🇬🇧 This house is mine.
- Possessive adjectives always need to be followed by a noun, while possessive pronouns can appear on their own.
🇪🇸 Tu casa es grande y la mía es pequeña.
🇬🇧 Your house is big and mine is small.
🇪🇸 ¿De quién son estos zapatos? ¡Míos!
🇬🇧 Whose shoes are these? Mine!
All Spanish Possessive Pronouns – Complete Table
Here’s the selection of all possessive pronouns in the Spanish language, depending on their number and gender.
| yo | tú | él, ella, usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos, ellas, ustedes | |
| Singular Masculine | mío | tuyo | suyo | nuestro | vuestro | suyo |
| Singular Feminine | mía | tuya | suya | nuestra | vuestra | suya |
| Plural Masculine | míos | tuyos | suyos | nuestros | vuestros | suyos |
| Plural Feminine | mías | tuyas | suyas | nuestras | vuestras | suyas |
Key Things to Remember about Spanish Possessive Pronouns
- the masculine singular form always finishes with the letter “o”.
- the feminine singular form always finishes with the letter “a”.
- all plural forms add the letter “s” at the end of the pronoun.
- 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural use the same possessive pronouns.
How to use Spanish Possessive Adjectives – Examples
Now that we have gotten through the grammar part, let’s have a look at sample sentences with possessive pronouns.
Spanish Possessive Pronouns At The End Of The Sentence
🇪🇸 Disculpe, creo que este asiento es mío. – “asiento” is masculine in Spanish
🇬🇧 Sorry, I think this seat is mine.
🇪🇸 Disculpe señora, ¿es suya esta maleta? – “maleta” is feminine in Spanish
🇬🇧 Excuse me madam, is this suitcase yours?
🇪🇸 No estoy segura si esta mochila es nuestra. ¡Revísala, por favor!
🇬🇧 I am not sure if this backpack is ours! Check it, please!
🇪🇸 Este juguete no es tuyo. Devuélveselo a Carlitos.
🇬🇧 This toy is not yours. Give it back to little Carlos.
Spanish Possessive Pronouns With Definite Articles
When the same noun (e.g. “house”) appears in your sentence more than once, each time with a different owner, it is not necessary to keep mentioning it.
Instead, after using it the first time, you can then replace it with a corresponding definite article (el, la, los, or las).
🇪🇸 La casa de Carlos está lejos de la nuestra. The article “la” makes reference to “casa”
🇬🇧 Carlos’s house is far from ours.
🇪🇸 Tu plan le gustó más a Juan que el mío. The article “el” makes reference to “plan”
🇬🇧 Juan liked your plan better than mine.
🇪🇸 Yo iré en mi coche y Ana irá en el suyo. The article “el” makes reference to “coche”
🇬🇧 I’ll go in my car and Ana in hers.
🇪🇸 Mis hijos se portan mejor que los vuestros. The article “los” makes reference to “hijos”
🇬🇧 My kids behave better than yours.
Spanish Possessive Pronouns Replaced with “de + personal pronoun”
In Spanish, it is often possible to replace a possessive pronoun with the combination of “de” and the corresponding personal pronoun, without altering the meaning.
“Nuestro” is the same as “de nosotros”.
“Suyo” can be replaced with “de él”, “de ella”, “de usted”, “ de ellos”, “de ellas” or “de ustedes”.
The only 2 possessive pronouns that DO NOT allow for such change are mío and tuyo (plus all of their gender and number variations).
Have a look:
🇪🇸 Esta casa es de Pedro. La otra también es suya. Pero aquella a la derecha no es de él.
🇬🇧 This house is Pedro’s. The other one is his, too. But the one on the right is not his.
🇪🇸 Cariño, estas muñecas no son de nosotros. Las nuestras están en la casa.
🇬🇧 Honey, these dolls are not ours. Ours are at home.
🇪🇸 ¿Esta justificación realmente la firmó tu mamá? No creo que esta letra sea de ella.
🇬🇧 Did your mom really sign this justification? I don’t think this handwriting is hers.
🇪🇸 Necesito su firma. ¿La mía? No, de él.
🇬🇧 I need your / his signature. Mine? No, his.
In the last example, the word “su” can mean “your” or “his“, hence the confusion.
