Possessive Pronouns in Spanish
Easy explanation of the terms
Let us look at the English meaning first to clarify the theoretical terms and keep it simple: Pronouns are words that can replace the noun in a sentence. For example:
- The house is white. It is white.
The word "it" replaces the noun "house" and is called "pronoun". The most common and the easiest pronouns are the personal pronouns:
- I, you, he, she, we, ...
Possessive pronouns can also replace a noun but they describe a possession:
- Whose car is it? It is mine
This is my car. It is mine!
In these two examples the word "mine" replaces the noun "car" and describes the possession of the 1st person singular ("I").
Form and use of the Spanish possessive pronouns
In Spanish it is similar, and the possessive pronouns are:
- Mío (Mine)
Tuyo (Yours)
Suyo (His / Hers)
Nuestro (Ours)
Vuestro (Yours)
Suyo (Theirs)
Now here comes the tricky part!
Like with Spanish adjectives the possessive pronouns agree in gender and number with the nouns the replace. For feminine, we use the ending "a", for plural masculine "os" and for plural feminine "as".
Here is the full table:
- Mío, mía, míos, mías (Mine)
Tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas (Yours)
Suyo, suya, suyos, suyas (His / Hers)
Nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras (Ours)
Vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras (Yours)
Suyo, suya, suyos, suyas (Theirs)
Examples:
- Este libro es mío, el tuyo está sobre la mesa. (This book is mine, yours is on the table.)
Estos son nuestros cuadernos, ¿dónde están los vuestros? (These are our notebooks, where are yours?)
La suya es una buena causa. (His cause is a good one.)
Mis lápices están aquí, los suyos están en el cajón. (My pencils are here, his are in the drawer.)
Estas tareas son vuestras, la profesora aún no corrigió las nuestras (These tasks are yours, the teacher has not corrected ours yet.)
Mi papá es abogado, el suyo es médico. (My dad is a lawyer, his is a doctor.)
Possessive Pronouns in Spanish