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Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are used very differently in Spanish.

Remember: simple possession will emphasize the object possessed first. so when you need to express the possessive adjective (my, your, his, her, our, your, their), remember that, as with any adjective or descriptive word, the desriptor must agree with the noun described in gender and number. This includes possessive adjectives.

If the object possessed is singular, there is one set of adjectives; if the object possessed is plural, there is a second set of adjectives. The adjective to use depends on the owner, as well.

For example: if I own something, and I am referring to"my" belonging, I will decide whether or not to use the singular or plural form of "my": unlike the English, Spanish has one form for the singular noun, and another form for the plural noun.

The possessive adjectives are:
English:
1st person singular owner, singular and plural belonging - my;
2nd person singular owner, singular and plural belonging - your
3rd person singular owner, singular and plural belonging - his, her, its

1st person plural owner, singular and plural belonging - our
2nd person plural owner, singular and plural belonging - your
3rd person plural owner, singular and plural belonging - their
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Spanish:

1st person person singular owner, singular belonging - mi
1st person person singular owner, plural belongings - mis

2nd person person singular owner, singular belonging - tu
2nd person person singular owner, plural belongings - tus

3rd person person singular owner, singular belonging - su
3rd person person singular owner, plural belongings - sus

1st person person plural owner, singular belonging - nuestro (masculine object owned), nuestra (feminine object owned)
1st person person plural owner, plural belongings - nuestros (masculine objects owned), nuestras (feminine objects owned)
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2nd person person plural owner, singular belonging - vuestro (masculine object owned), vuestra (feminine object owned)
2nd person person plural owner, plural belongings - vuestros (masculine objects owned), vuestras (feminine objects owned)

3rd person person plural owner, singular belonging - nuestro (masculine object owned), nuestra (feminine object owned)
3rd person person plural owner, plural belongings - nuestros (masculine objects owned), nuestras (feminine objects owned)
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Now for some practice with this very unusual construction. Remember that whatever is being described (the thing "possessed") determines the gender and number of the adjective. In this case, the first and second person plural adjectives change with both gender and number of the thing described:

English: Juan sees my blue car.
Spanish: Juan ve mi auto azul.
What does Juan see? the blue car; whose blue car?
el auto - masculine singular; my blue car - mi auto azul
If Juan had seen more than one of my cars, it would be:
Juan ve mis autos.

English: His book is long.
Spanish: Su libro es largo.
Similarly, whose book?
el libro - masculine singular; his book - su libro
la casa - feminine singular; our house - nuestra casa

English: Our house is big.
Spanish: Nuestra casa es grande.
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Whose house? Ours. How many houses and what gender and number is the noun? We own the singular, feminine house.

Just as with any possessive, first think of the owner and then think of the noun possessed; ask what gender and number the noun is; then use the possessive adjective that matches that gender (in the case of the first and second plural) and number ( in the case of all the possessive adjectives).