Spanish Possessives: Mi casa, tus llaves, nuestra familia

In English, a possessive tells you about the owner: his book, her book. In Spanish, the possessive sits before the noun and agrees with the thing owned, not with the owner: mi casa, mis llaves — one owner, but the second possessive is plural because the keys are. Only nuestro and vuestro also change for gender (nuestra familia). The one real trap is su, which covers his, her, its, their and the polite your all at once — and the fix is de + person.

Possessives for the six grammatical persons

The list follows the six grammatical persons, but su/sus appears twice. There are five distinct sets: mi/mis, tu/tus and su/sus have two forms each; nuestro and vuestro have four, like adjectives in -o.

Two spelling pairs to keep apart: tu (your) has no accent, tú (you) does; mi (my) has no accent, mí (me, after a preposition: para mí) does. Tu coche is “your car”; Tú tienes coche is “you have a car”.

Agreement: with the thing, not the owner

Number. Look at the noun that follows. If it is plural, the possessive is plural — even when the owner is one person. And if the owners are many but the thing is one, the possessive stays singular.

Gender. Mi, tu and su never change for gender: mi hermano, mi hermana. Nuestro and vuestro do, like any adjective in -o — and again it is the gender of the thing, not of the owners.

This is the opposite of English, where his and her mark the owner. In Spanish, his book and her book are both su libro; the difference between them is simply not in the possessive. For the gender of nouns themselves, see gender and articles; for the plural forms, plural nouns.

Su: whose? Clear it up with de + person

Su casa can be his house, her house, their house or your house (usted). Most of the time the conversation makes it obvious. When it doesn't, Spanish doesn't invent a new possessive — it names the owner with de + person, the same pattern as la casa de Ana.

De + person is also simply how Spanish says 's: el perro de Carlos (Carlos's dog), el móvil de mi hermana (my sister's phone). The order is always thing + de + owner.

For a clear beginner pattern, use su coche or el coche de Ana. To identify the owner, use de él / de ella / de ellos / de usted after the noun. You may hear possessive doubling in some regions, but it is not the pattern practised here.

Your: tu, su or vuestro?

English has one your; Spanish has three, and the choice follows the pronoun you use for the person.

Regional note. Vuestro belongs to vosotros, which is used in Spain. In most of Latin America, a group is ustedes whether formal or not, so “your” for a group is su / sus — ¿Dónde está su hotel? to your friends is perfectly normal there. Neither is wrong; they are different norms. The pronouns themselves are covered in subject pronouns.

When Spanish skips the possessive

Spanish uses possessives less than English. With parts of the body and clothes, when it is obvious whose they are, the article is the usual choice — especially with reflexive verbs.

A possessive is not impossible here — it adds emphasis or contrast — but the article is the neutral everyday form. There is also a second, stressed set of possessives (mío, tuyo, suyo…) used after the noun or on its own: un amigo mío, ¿Es tuyo? That is a separate topic; for now, the short forms before the noun are what you need. More examples appear in the guide to reflexive verbs.

Common mistakes

Singular possessive with a plural noun. The possessive copies the noun's number. Plural noun, plural possessive — even if “I” am one person.

Plural possessive because the owners are plural. The mirror image: several owners, one thing — the possessive stays singular.

Nuestro with a feminine noun. Mi, tu, su don't change for gender, so it is tempting to freeze nuestro too. It does change.

Tú with an accent before a noun. With the accent it is the pronoun “you”; the possessive “your” has none.

Tu when you mean the passport of someone you address as usted. For Mr Ruiz’s own passport, use su with usted. Tu would refer to a different person whom you address as tú.

With a friend, the same sentence is ¿Tienes tu pasaporte? — the possessive simply follows the pronoun you chose.

Quick exercise

Fill in the right possessive. The owner is in parentheses; in number 8, fill in the missing word.

1. ___ hermanas viven en Madrid. (yo)
2. ¿Dónde están ___ llaves? (tú)
3. Ana y ___ marido tienen dos hijos. (Ana)
4. ___ casa está cerca del centro. (nosotros)
5. ___ amigos son muy simpáticos. (vosotros)
6. Los niños juegan con ___ perro. (los niños)
7. Señor López, ¿es ___ coche? (usted)
8. Esta es la mochila ___ Carlos.