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Possessives

The forms are short and the endings are easy. The trap is su, which is four English words wearing one coat.

Quick answer

mi · tu · su · nuestro

Possessives agree with the thing owned, not with the owner. And su covers his, her, your and their all at once.

The forms

PersonSingularPlural
yomimis
tútutus
él / ella / ustedsusus
nosotrosnuestro / nuestranuestros / nuestras
vosotrosvuestro / vuestravuestros / vuestras
ellos / ustedessusus

Only nuestro and vuestro change for gender. The rest change for number only.

Agreement with the thing, not the owner

This is the opposite of English "his book / her book".

Es su casa.It is his house. / her house. / their house. / your house.
Son sus libros.They are his books.
Nuestra profesora es española.Our teacher is Spanish.
Nuestros hijos viven en Sevilla.Our children live in Seville.

When su is ambiguous

If the context does not make it clear, Spanish rebuilds the phrase with de.

Es la casa de ella.It is her house.
Es el coche de Pablo.It is Pablo’s car.

There is no apostrophe-s in Spanish. Ownership always runs backwards through de.

Memory trick

Count the objects, not the owners. Two books and one owner still gives you sus libros.

Typical mistakes

Nuestro casa es pequeña.

Nuestra casa es pequeña.

Casa is feminine, so nuestro must become nuestra. Only this form and vuestro carry gender.

Es el libro de Ana’s.

Es el libro de Ana.

Spanish has no possessive apostrophe at all. De plus the name is the whole construction.

Mis hermano vive aquí.

Mi hermano vive aquí.

One brother, so the possessive stays singular.

Check yourself

___ padres viven en Lima. (nosotros)

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