Grammar - Possessive Adjectives

Did you notice that there are masculine and feminine ways to say the same thing? In addition, the possessive adjectives can be singular or plural. Now that’s different from English isn’t it? The reason the possessive adjectives can be singular and plural in Spanish is because they are dependent upon whether the subject or object is singular or plural. For example, in English we would say 'my house'. In Spanish this would be 'mi casa.' But now if in English we were to say they are 'my houses' we use the same form of the word 'my' but in Spanish it would be 'mis casas.' Since there is more than one house the possessive adjective becomes plural.

Just as there are several ways to say 'you' in Spanish, so too are there several ways to say 'your' with one being familiar and one being more formal. Notice here that when you say 'your' familiar, i.e. tu, that there is no accent mark over the 'u' as there was with the word you (tú). Part of the accent mark’s role in Spanish is to change the form of the word and/or to change the meaning of the word entirely. This is why learning the accent mark is important - but that will be in another quiz.

As you will note from the possessive adjectives above, the words 'our' (nuestro/nuestra and nuestros/nuestras) and 'your' (plural familiar - vuestro/vuestra and vuestros/vuestras) are gender specific. Remember if there is a mixture of males and females then use the masculine form of the possessive adjective.

Finally, did you notice that 'your' and 'their' (formal) is the same word in Spanish, i.e. su and sus? When speaking and writing in Spanish, how these words are used in the context of a sentence will determine whether it is 'your' or 'their'.

Once again you are probably feeling quite confused and a bit overwhelmed. Remember you are learning Spanish bit by bit so just take a tiny bite out of these new possessive adjective words until you feel comfortable with them. Slowly pronounce them. When you feel like you are ready, then move forward to the quiz questions and see if you are able to get them all right. Ready? Then begin the quiz!