A possessive adjective is defined as an adjective used to show the ownership. Or in other words, it shows us to whom the noun belongs. Possessive adjectives come before a noun in the sentence. In this article, we will show you different forms of possessive adjectives in Spanish.
Spanish possessive adjectives
There are two forms of Spanish possessive adjectives: Long form and short form
Spanish short form possessive adjectives
Short form possessive adjectives come before the noun that they modify. They must agree with the given noun in both gender (feminine or masculine) and number (singular or plural).
See gender of nouns in Spanish for more information.
Short form possessive adjectives will be listed out below:
| Singular | Plural | Translation |
| mi | mis | my |
| tu | tus | your (familiar) |
| su | sus | his/her/its/your (formal)/their (formal) |
| nuestro/nuestra | nuestros/nuestras | our |
| vuestro/avuestra | vuestros/vuestras | your (formal) |
For example:
El color de mi vestido es negro - The color of my dress is black
¿Dónde están tus zapatos? - Where are your shoes?
Nuestra casa es muy grande - Our house is very big
Note:
- Spanish definite articles: el, la, los, and las are omitted when the possessive adjective precedes the noun.
- You shouldn't use possessive adjectives when possession is obvious. For example: bodyparts, clothing, etc.
For example:
Me duele el brazo - My arms hurts
Me lavo el cabello - I wash my hair
Short form of Spanish possessive adjectives
Spanish long form possessive articles
Spanish ong-form possessive adjectives are used less often than short form ones. This is due to the fact that they are used to emphasize the owner of a given noun or to contrast one owner with another. Long form possessive adjectives come after the noun that they modify. And just like short form ones, they must agree with the noun in both gender and number.
| Singular | Plural | Translation |
| mío/mía | míos/mías | mine |
| tuyo/a tuyos/as your, yours | tuyos/tuyas | yours (familiar) |
| suyo/suya | suyos/suyas | his, hers, yours formal/theirs,yours formal |
| nuestro/nuestra | nuestros/nuestras | ours |
| vuestro/vuestra | vuestros/vuestras | yours (familiar) |
Examples:
El carro es mío - The car is mine
The handbag is hers - La cartera es suya
The apples are ours - Las manzanas son nuestras
Is this seat yours? - ¿Es este asiento suyo?
¿Mi casa está muy desordenada, y la tuya? - My house is very messy, and yours?
La mía está muy limpia - Mine is very clean
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