Possessive Adjectives

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Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives in Spanish, like those of
English, are a way of indicating who owns or is
in possession of something. Their use is
straightforward, although they (like other
adjectives) must match the nouns they modify in
both number and gender.
Unlike English, Spanish has two forms of
possessive adjectives, a short form that is used
before nouns, and a long form that is used after
nouns. Following are the long-form possessive
adjectives with examples of usage
Here are the possessive pronouns of Spanish
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In Spain, you will come across these pronouns
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Usage Examples
Son libros míos. (They are my books.) (They are
books of mine.)
Prefiero la casa tuya. (I prefer your house.)
(I prefer the house of yours.)
Voy a la oficina suya. (I am going to
his/her/your/their office.) (I am going to the
office of his/hers/yours/theirs.)
Es un carro nuestro. (It is our car.) (It is a
car of ours.)
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As you may have noticed, the short form and long
forms of nuestro and vuestro and related pronouns
are identical. They differ only as to whether
they are used before or after the noun.
Note that the possessive adjectives vary by
number and gender. The change is with the nouns
they modify, not with the person(s) who own or
possess the object.
Es un amigo tuyo. (He is a friend of yours.) Es
una amiga tuya. (She is a friend of yours.) Son
unos amigos tuyos. (They are some friends of
yours.) Son unas amigas tuyas. (They are some
friends of yours.)
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If you've already studied possessive pronouns,
you may have noticed that they are identical with
the possessive adjectives listed above. In fact,
some grammarians consider the possessive
adjectives to actually be pronouns.
Choice of possessive form Generally speaking,
there is little or no difference in meaning
between the long and short forms of the
possessive. Most often, you'd use the long form
as the equivalent of "of mine," "of yours," etc.,
in English, although (as in English) they are
usually interchangeable in meaning. The short
form is more common, and in some cases, the long
form can be somewhat awkward or have a slight
"literary" flavor, although it is used in
informal speech as well.
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Possessive Adjectives (Long Form) ______________
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