Spanish Possessive Pronouns

If youve learned the long form of the possessive adjectives, you already know the possessive pronouns of Spanish. In fact, some grammarians classify the long-form possessive adjectives as pronouns, even though they are used to describe nouns. What Are Possessive Pronouns? Possessive pronouns are the equivalent of the English pronouns mine, yours, his, hers, theirs and its, but they arent used in exactly the same way in Spanish as they are in English. As the name suggests, possessive pronouns are used in the place of nouns rather than to describe nouns as adjectives do. Here are the possessive pronouns of Spanish with simple examples of their use: mà ­o, mà ­a, mà ­os, mà ­as — mine Tu madre y la mà ­a no pueden cantar. (Your mother and mine cant sing.)No me gustan los coches rojos. El mà ­o es verde. (I dont like red cars. Mine is green.)Cuido de tus mascotas como si fueran las mà ­as. (I take care of your pets as if there were mine.) tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas — yours (singular informal) Este libro no es mà ­o. Es tuyo. (This book isnt mine. Its yours.) ¿Dà ³nde està ¡ mi mochila? La tuya està ¡ aquà ­. (Where is my backpack? Yours is here.) suyo, suya, suyos, suyas — his, hers, yours (singular formal or plural formal), its, theirs Mis calcetines son rojos. Los suyos son negros. (My socks are red. His/hers/yours/theirs are black.)Amo a mi esposa. Él no ama a la suya. (I love my wife. He doesnt love his.) nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras — ours Este coche es nuestro. (This car is ours.) ¿Te gusta tu casa? No me gusta la nuestra. (Do you like your house? I dont like ours.) vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras — yours (plural informal; infrequently used in  Latin America) Nuestra casa es muy vieja.  ¿Y la vuestra? (Our house is very old. And yours?)No me gustan los coches de vuestros competidores. Prefiero los vuestros. (I dont like your competitors cars. I prefer yours.) As you can see from the examples, possessive pronouns must match the noun they represent in both number and gender, just as do the long-form possessive adjectives. They do not necessarily match the number or gender of the person or thing that has possession. Spanish Possessive Pronouns The possessive pronouns of Spanish take the same form as the long form of the possessive adjectives, namely mà ­o, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, and vuestro along with their plural and feminine counterparts.Except when followed by forms of ser, a verb meaning to be, the possessive pronouns are preceded by el, la, lo, los, or las.  Because  suyo is ambiguous, it is sometimes replaced by phrases such as de à ©l or de ellas. Definite Articles With Possessive Pronouns Note that unlike the equivalent pronouns in English, the Spanish possessive pronouns are usually preceded by a definite article (el, la, los or las), the equivalent of the. The article is usually dispensed with when the possessive pronoun follows a form of the verb ser, such as son or es, as in the examples, although it is sometimes retained for emphasis. Ambiguous Suyo Suyo and the related forms can be ambiguous since they can mean his, hers, yours, theirs, or its. When context doesnt make its meaning clear, the possessive pronoun can be omitted and replaced by a prepositional phrase such as de à ©l (instead of his) or de ellos (instead of theirs). Examples: No es mi coche. Es de ella. (Its not my car. Its hers.) ¿Dà ³nde està ¡n mis zapatos? Los de à ©l està ¡n aquà ­. (Where are my shoes? His are here.)En nuestras listas hay luchadores; en las de ellos, cobardes. (On our lists there are fighters; on theirs, cowards.) Note that you wouldnt normally use the de object pronoun to refer to those that arent included in the meaning of su. So, for example, you wouldnt normally substitute de mà ­ for mà ­o. Using the Possessive Neuter Form The single, masculine form of the pronouns can also be treated as neuter and thus be preceded by the definite article lo. Even though singular, the pronoun can stand for more than one object. The neuter form is used when no specific object is being referred to. Examples: No toques lo mà ­o. (Dont touch what is mine. Dont touch my things.)Lo mà ­o es importante. (What is mine is important. My things are important.)Es intolerable que nuestro là ­deres no defiendan lo nuestro. (It is intolerable that our leaders dont defend what is ours. It is intolerable that our leaders dont defend our traditions.)