Possessives in Spanish Grammar

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The key takeaways are that possessive adjectives and pronouns in Spanish indicate possession or belonging and agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to. Possessive adjectives have a short and long form while possessive pronouns replace a noun.

The two forms of possessive adjectives in Spanish are the short form (adjetivos posesivos átonos) and the long form (adjetivos posesivos tónicos).

Possessive adjectives (adjetivos posesivos) accompany a noun while possessive pronouns (pronombres posesivos) replace a noun.

Possessives in Spanish Grammar

 Possessive Adjectives – Short Forms


 Possessive Adjectives – Long Forms
 Possessive Pronouns
  Online exercises to improve your Spanish

Introduction
Possessives adjectives and pronouns (los posesivos) indicate possession or belonging. They
always agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to i.e the thing that is possessed.

Possessive adjectives (adjetivos posesivos) have two forms, a long form and a short form. As
in English grammar, they always accompany a noun. Possessive pronouns (pronombres
posesivos), however, replace a noun.

Learn how to use Spanish possessive adjectives and pronouns with Lingolia’s simple grammar
lesson. In the exercises, you can practise what you have learnt.

Example

Me llamo Julia y estoy buscando mi sombrero. Mi papá dice que está en el armario, pero ese no
es el mío, es el suyo. Mis sombreros no están allí. ¡Mira! Nuestro perro lleva el suyo.

Possessive Adjectives – Short Forms


Possessive adjectives in Spanish grammar have two forms, a long one and a short one. The short
forms of possessive adjectives, or adjetivos posesivos átonos, are you in the same way as
possessive determiners in English grammar, they always come before a noun. Because they
function as adjectives they must agree in gender and number with the noun they relate to.
However, only the 1st and 2nd person plural have a different feminine form:
Example:
Estoy buscando mi sombrero.
Ella busca su sombrero.
Nuestro perro lleva un sombrero. 
Nuestra gata no tiene sombrero.
person singular plural
1st person singular mi mis
2nd person singular tu tus
3rd person singular su sus
1st person plural nuestro/-a nuestros/-as
2nd person plural vuestro/-a vuestros/-as
3rd person plural su sus

Possessive Adjectives – Long Forms


The long forms of possessive adjective (adjetivos posesivos tónicos) always come after the noun
they refer to. They agree in gender and number with that noun. In English, we generally use of +
possessive pronoun in this situation.

Example:
Es una conocida mía.
Amigos nuestros nos recomendaron ese hotel.
Me gusta mucho esa autora. He leído varios libros suyos. 
singular plural
feminin
person masculine masculine feminine
e
1st person singular mío mía míos mías
2nd person singular tuyo tuya tuyos tuyas
3rd person singular suyo suya suyos suyas
1st person plural nuestro nuestra nuestros nuestras
2nd person plural vuestro vuestra vuestros vuestras
3rd person plural suyo suya suyos suyas
Long from possessive adjective are used with the verb ser, when the noun forms part of the
subject of a sentence. Here again, they must agree in number and person with the noun and
person with the subject.

Example:
Este reloj es mío.
possessor: yo (1st person singular); object possessed: el reloj (masculine, singular)
Los cuadros de la pared son nuestros.
possessor: nosotros (1st person plural); object possessed: Los cuadros  (masculine, plural)

Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns (pronombres posesivos) replace a previously-mentioned noun. The
possessive pronoun must agree in gender and number with this noun. Possessive pronouns are
preceded by the definite article.

Example:
No es mi sombrero, es el suyo.
No encuentro mi falda. ¿Puedo ponerme la tuya?
singular plural
person
masculine feminine masculine feminine
1st person singular el mío la mía los míos las mías
2nd person singular el tuyo la tuya los tuyos las tuyas
3rd person singular el suyo la suya los suyos las suyas
la
1st person plural el nuestro los nuestros las nuestras
nuestra
la
2nd person plural el vuestro los vuestros las vuestras
vuestra
3rd person plural el suyo la suya los suyos las suyas

 Online exercises to improve your Spanish


Our online exercises for Spanish help you to learn and practice grammar rules in an interactive
manner. To make sure that you understand the correct answers, our answer keys offer simple
explanations as well as handy tips and tricks.
Possessive Pronouns - Exercises
 Possessive pronouns – mixed exercise

Need more practice?

With Lingolia Plus you can access 17 additional exercises about Possessive Pronouns,


as well as 812 online exercises to improve your Spanish. Get 3 months membership for
just €10.49 (≈ $12.69).

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Los posesivos - ejercicios adicionales

  Become a Lingolia Plus member to access these additional exercises.

 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos (1) es A1


 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos (2) es A1
 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos (3) es A1
 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos (4) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos (5) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos (6) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos tónicos (1) es A1
 Los posesivos – posesivos tónicos (2) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos tónicos (3) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos tónicos (4) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos y tónicos (1) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos y tónicos (2) es A2
 Los posesivos – posesivos átonos y tónicos (3) es B1
 Los posesivos – pronombres posesivos (1) es B1
 Los posesivos – pronombres posesivos (2) es B1
 Los posesivos – pronombre posesivos (3) es B1
 Los posesivos – pronombres posesivos (4) es B1
A1Beginner A2Elementary B1Intermediate B2Upper intermediate C1Advanced

 Grammar
 Pronouns
 Possessives in Spanish Grammar

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