When to use possessive adjectives?

Possessive adjectives are used to designate the relationship between the possessor and the object possessed.

How do possessive adjectives agree?

In Spanish possessive adjectives agree in gender (feminine or masculine), number (singular or plural) and person (depending on the relationship between the speaker, the possessed object and its owner) with the noun that follows.

Examples :

• Nuestras tortas son deliciosas. Our pies are delicious.
• Nuestros hijos son muy altos. Our children are very tall.

Where do possessive adjectives go in the sentence?

Possessive adjectives are placed before the noun. They can be separated from the object they refer to by a qualifying adjective.

Examples :

• Te regalo mi vaso. I offer you my glass.
• Te regalo mi gran vaso. I’m giving you my big glass.

What are the possessive adjectives in Spanish?

In the following table we have listed the different possessive adjectives in the Spanish language.

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	Mi	Mi
	Tu	Tu
	Su	Su
	Nuestro	Nuestra
	Vuestro	Vuestra
	Su	Su
Plural	Mis	Mis
	Tus	Tus
	Sus	Sus
	Nuestros	Nuestras
	Vuestros	Vuestras
	Sus	Sus

Which possessive adjectives should be used in the case of polite and informal forms of address?

Note that English uses the same pronouns (you) and possessive adjectives (your, yours) for formal and informal forms of address.

In the example “Your father is Australian” we cannot know if the speaker is addressing one person, several people or several people.

On the other hand, this distinction is possible in Spanish thanks to the possessive adjectives “su”/”sus”. Su”/”sus” correspond to the third person singular and plural (in English “his”, “her”, “their”) as well as to “vous” (in English “your”, “yours”).

• If the speaker is polite to one or more people, the possessive adjectives “su”/”sus” are used.
• If the speaker wants to use the informal speech with several people, he will use the possessive adjectives “vuestro”/”vuestros” (male) or “vuestra”/”vuestras” (female).

Examples :

• Su padre es Francés. Your father is French. -> formal address
• Vuestro padre es Francés. Your father is French. -> informal address for several people

Is it necessary to put an accent (tilde) on “mi”?

Be careful not to confuse the possessive adjective “mi” (“my”) and the personal pronoun “mí” (“me”). Only the personal pronoun “mí” has an accent (tilde). This is what allows us not to confuse it with the possessive adjective.

Example :

• A mí me encanta mi chaqueta. I love my jacket.

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Tags: Grammar