Possessive pronouns (pronombres posesivos) express possession or belonging.

They replace a noun that has already been identified in the conversation and agree in gender and number with the noun they replace. Note that possessive pronouns are never placed before the noun they determine.

Be careful not to confuse possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns. The former accompanies the noun while the latter replaces it or emphasizes the idea of possession.

Their use avoids many pitfalls such as useless periphrases, since these do not add any value to a text.

In concrete terms, just like possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns obey the rule of three persons of the singular and three persons of the plural.

English	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Masculine plural	Feminine plural
mine	el mío	la mía	los míos	las mías
yours (belonging to tú)	el tuyo	la tuya	los tuyos	las tuyas
his; hers; its; yours (usted)	el suyo	la suya	los suyos	las suyas
ours (nosotros)	el nuestro	la nuestra	los nuestros	las nuestras
yours (vosotros/vosotras)	el vuestro	la vuestra	los vuestros	las vuestras
theirs; yours (ustedes)	el suyo	la suya	los suyos	las suyas

Examples :

– Su proyecto costó mucho dinero, el nuestro muy poco. ==> His project cost a lot of money, ours very little.
==> The possessive pronoun “nuestro” is substantive of “proyecto”.

– No es mi coche, es el tuyo ==> It’s not my car, it’s yours.
==> The possessive pronoun “tuyo” is a noun of “coche”.

– No encuentro mi camisa ¿ Puedo ponerme la tuya ? ==> I can’t find my shirt, can I wear yours?
==> The possessive pronoun “tuya” is a substantive of “camisa”.

– Es el chaleco del abuelo, es suyo. ==> This is the grandfather’s vest, this is his (vest).
==> The possessive pronoun “suyo” is a noun of “chaleco”.

-¿ De quién es este libro ? Señora, es suyo ==> Whose book is this? Madam, it’s yours.
==> The possessive pronoun “suyo” is substantive of “este libro”.

N.B :

* Possessive adjectives are also used to substitute other possessive phrases such as: “one of my…”, “one of your…”, “one of his…”, “…of mine” etc.

Examples :

• A friend of mine is coming to dinner ==> Una de mis amigas viene para cenar ==> Una amiga mía viene para cenar esta noche.
• One of your dogs ran away ==> Uno de tus perros se escapó ==> Un perro tuyo se escapó.

* The neutral form of the possessive pronoun expresses a particular idea or concept. That is, what
that concerns me, that which belongs to me.

Examples :

• Lo tuyo es el futbol, lo mío es el baile ==> Your “thing” (in the sense of “hobbie”; “passion”) is soccer, mine is dancing.
• Lo nuestro se terminó este invierno ==> Our relationship (concept) ended this winter.

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