This chapter introduces the words used to indicate possession, i.e. whose something is, or to whom it belongs (my, his, mine, etc.), and to point things out (‘demonstratives’ like this, that, these).
Describing Possession in Spanish, the equivalent in English of adding ’s , is to use the preposition ‘of’( de ) before the ‘possessor’ – the subject , so ‘of the university’ translates as de la universidad.
In the case of masculine nouns, because the definite article el begins with a vowel, the article is shortened to del so ‘the lecturer’s book’ is el libro del professor and ‘the student’s book’ becomes el libro del estudiante. This contraction of article also happens with ‘to the’: a + el = al, so ‘to the cinema’ is al cine.
As in English, each of the personal pronouns has their possessive equivalent, and like the ‘short’ and ‘long’ forms in English, e.g. my and mine, our and ours, Spanish does pretty much the same. In addition, these must agree in number and gender with the object being possessed, as you’ll see below, with examples to show how they work in a phrase or sentence.
Possessives – with examples
My/mine and our(s)
mi – él es mi entrenador – he is my coach
mis – ¿Donde estan mis libros? – where are my books?
el mío / mío – el coche es el mío – the car is mine ; es el coche mío, no el tuyo – it’s my car, not yours (for emphasis)
la mía / mía
los míos / las mías – Tus niñas están aquí, pero las mías han partido. – Your children are here, but mine have left.
nuestro – Aquí es nuestro hotel – Here is our hotel.
nuestra
nuestros
nuestras – nuestras habitaciones estan en el piso tercero – our rooms are on the third floor.
el nuestro / la nuestra
los nuestros / las nuestras – estos son los nuestros – these are ours.
His/her(s), their(s) and formal ‘your(s)’
su – me ha invitado a su fiesta el viernes- he’s invited me to his party.
–Gracias por invitarme a su fiesta, Señor. (polite)
sus – sus otros amigos estan invitados a la fiesta también – his other friends are invited to the party too.
el suyo – ¿El piso grande es el suyo o de sus padres? – Is the big flat his or his parents’?
la suya – ¿Es la cocina de su hijo mas pequeño que la suya? Is your son’s kitchen, smaller than yours?(polite)
los suyos – todos los regalos son los suyos … – all the presents are his … (or yours, polite).
las suyas – … y también son las suyas las botellas de vino. … and the bottles of wine are his, too.
Your(s) (sing. and pl.)
tu – tu trabajo es muy duro – your job is very hard
tus – son tus zapatos – they’re your shoes
el tuyo
la tuya – Tengo mi bici ¿Cual es la tuya? – I’ve got my bike. Which one’s yours?
los tuyos
las tuyas
vuestro – es vuestro coche allí – That’s your car over there.
vuestra –
vuestros
vuestras
el vuestro / la vuestra – ¿Esta casa es la vuestra? – Is this house yours?
los vuestros / las vuestras
Pointing out – Demonstratives
Demonstratives are words used to point out (demonstrate) particular items (nouns), i.e. words like this, that or these. They always must be in the appropriate gender (i.e the genders must ‘agree’) for the item(s) being pointed out, and they go before the noun.. There is also a particular word for indicating something which exists or existed in a more distant place or time (in the past).
Masculine demonstratives
This – este
That – ese
That (distant) – aquel
These – estos
Those – esos
Those (far away) – aquellos
Neuter demonstratives
[This is used for more abstract ideas / concepts rather than objects, or situations where you don’t know what something is.]
This – esto – ¿Que es esto? – what is this?
That – eso – No puedo practicar y por eso no hablo bien español. – I can’t practice and because of that I don’t speak Spanish well.
That (distant) – aquello – Viajaba mucho cuando estaba joven, y aquello ha sido un experiencia muy util. – I travelled a lot when I was young, and that‘s been a very useful experience.
Feminine demonstratives
This – esta
That – esa
That (distant) – aquella
These – estas
Those – esas
Those (far away) – aquellas
Dr. Seuss
International-Eyes.org 