Spanish I Unit 3: El tiempo

Possession

¿Es mi chaqueta o tu chaqueta?

In Spanish to show possession like in the English language you use possessive adjectives. The possessive adjectives in Spanish are:

Singular	Plural	English Translation
Mi	Mis	My
Tu	Tus	Your
Su	Sus	His, her, your (formal), their
nuestro/nuestra	nuestros/nuestras	Our
vuestro/vuestra	vuestros/vuestras	Your (familiar plural) Like vosotros, this is used in Spain only with family and friends.

Here are some sample sentences with singular possessive adjectives:

Singular
My	Mi abrigo es rojo.	My coat is red.
Your	Tu abrigo es rojo.	Your coat is red.
His, her, their	Me gusta su abrigo rojo.	I like his red coat. I like her red coat. I like their red coat.
formal your – Use with people that you call sir, ma’am or by their last name.	Señor Martinez, me gusta su abrigo rojo.	Mr. Martinez, I like your red coat.
Our	Me gusta nuestro abrigo rojo.	I like our red coat.
Your (Familiar plural) Used in Spain only with friends and family.	Hola amigos, me gusta vuestro abrigo rojo.	Hi friends, I like your red coat.

Here are some sample sentences with plural possessive adjectives:

Plural
My	Mis zapatos son rojos.	My shoes are red.
Your	Tus zapatos son rojos.	I like your red shoes.
His, her, their	Sus zapatos son rojos.	His shoes are red. Her shoes are red. Their shoes are red.
formal your – Use with people that you call sir, ma’am or by their last name.	Señor Martinez, me gustan sus zapatos rojos.	Mr. Martinez, I like your red shoes.
Our	Nuestros zapatos son rojos.	Our coats are shoes.
Your (Familiar plural) Used in Spain only with friends and family.	Hola amigos, me gustan vuestros zapatos.	Hi friends, I like your red shoes.

If the meaning of su is not clear from the context of the sentence, a prepositional phrase is used in place of su. There is no apostrophe in Spanish.

El abrigo de Pablo es rojo.	Pablo’s coat is red.
El abrigo es de Pablo.	The coat belongs to Pablo.
Me gusta el abrigo de Pablo.	I like Pablo’s coat.

In the examples below, try to see if you can say who the items belong to. Then click the link to see if you are correct.

	Pablo	El cinturón es de Pablo.
	Juana	La chaqueta es de Juana.
	Micaela	El vestido es de Micaela.
	Javier	El impermeable es de Javier.

Notice that there is a slight change if we are saying that more than one item belongs to someone.

Los abrigos de Pablo son rojos. Note: “Es” changes to “son.”	Pablo’s coats are red.
Los abrigos son de Pablo.	The coats belong to Pablo.
Me gustan los abrigos de Pablo. Note: “Gusta” changes to “gustan.”	I like Pablo’s coat.

In the examples below, try to see if you can say who the items belong to. Then click the link to see if you are correct.

	Pablo	Los guantes son de Pablo.
	Juana	Los jeans son de Juana.
	Micaela	Las sandalias son de Micaela.
	Javier	Los calcetines son de Javier.