Possessive determiners in Spanish

• Possessive determiners
• One thing possessed
• More than one thing possessed
• Full way of expressing possession

Possessive determiners

Possessive determiners go before the noun and show possession. In Spanish, we have different ones for one thing possessed or more than one thing possessed.

One thing possessed

First person singular: mi (my)

Second person singular: tu (your, singular)

Third person singular: su (his / her / your, formal)

First person plural: nuestro / nuestra (our)

Second person plural: vuestro / vuestra (your, plural)

Third person plural: su (their / your, formal plural)

More than one thing possessed

First person singular: mis (my)

Second person singular: tus (your, singular)

Third person singular: sus (his / her / your, formal)

First person plural: nuestros / nuestras (our)

Second person plural: vuestros / vuestras (your, plural)

Third person plural: sus (their / your, formal plural)

Some examples: mi casa, mis carros, sus tíos, nuestras casas, tus abuelos.

Notice how the subject of the sentence is the object or the animal possessed: Mi gato es rojo uses the third person conjugation (él), not the first person conjugation (yo). The subject is the cat, not me.

Full way of expressing possession

When we name the possessor instead of using a possessive, we cannot use 's in Spanish (as in Juan's house). We have to say la casa de Juan (the house of Juan).