One of the most common mistake students make when learning Spanish concern the placement of Spanish possessive adjectives. If you want to learn how to do it right, our Spanish school El Rincón del Tándem gives you useful tips 🙂
One of the questions our students ask frequently during Spanish lessons concerns the placement of Spanish possessive adjectives.
When it comes with placing possessives, the first questions that comes into our mind is: before or after the noun?
To begin with, we remind you that in Spanish we can find possessive adjectives either before or after the word they modify.
When placed before, these adjectives are slightly different than the ones placed after.
On one hand they both express possession and modify the person or object that owns something. On the other hand they have different forms: short-form possessive (before the noun) and long-form possessive (after the noun).
To learn how to correctly use both forms, let’s see how to make the right choice 😉
Possessive adjectives BEFORE the noun
First of all, find below the list of short-form possessive adjectives:
mi(s), tu(s), su(s), nuestro/a(os/as), vuestro/a(os/as), suyo/a(os/as)
They all agree in number with the possessed entity. Only the 1st and 2nd plural forms (nuestro and vuestro) match the noun in both gender and number.
The short-form possessive adjectives indicate that the owned entity has already been mentioned by the speakers or that the relation with the owner defines it in an exclusive way. That is, there are no other elements besides it.
Examples:
Su película ganó el Oscar = Her movie won the Oscar
In this sentence the speaker is referring to a movie that have been already mentioned in a previous conversation or to the only movie that has been submitted to the competition by the director.
He encontrado tus dos gatos en mi jardín = I have found your two cats in my garden
The speaker is referring to the only two cats that the other person owns, or the two cats the two speakers have been previously talked about.
NOTE.
Short-form possessive adjectives cannot be used with demonstrative adjectives o definite and indefinite articles.
For instance we cannot say: Una mi prima se ha ido de viaje a India (WRONG)
The right form is: Una prima mía se ha ido de viaje a India (CORRECT).
Therefore, in this case, we have to use the long-form possessive adjectives.
Possessive adjectives AFTER the noun
When placed after the noun, we have to use to long-form possessive adjectives. Here below find the complete list:
Mío/a(os/as) – tuyo/a(os/as) – suyo/a(os/as) – nuestro/a(os/as) – vuestro/a(os/as) – suyo/a(os/as)
All the forms match the noun in both gender and number (owned entity).
In Spanish we find them before the noun when the possessed entity is part of a larger group. They are also used to highlight who the possessed object belongs to.
Examples:
Dos alumnos míos son de Perú = Two students of mine are from Peru
In this case the speaker has more students and only two of them are from Peru
Mi abuela me ha regalado un abrigo suyo = My grandmother gave one of her coats to me
My grandmother has more than a coat and she gave only one to me.
NOTE.
Unlike short-form possessive adjectives, long-forms ones can be combined with articles and demonstrative adjectives.
Examples:
No me gusta esa forma suya de hacer las cosas = I don’t like this manner of hers to do things
We hope this blog will help you better understand the placement of Spanish possessive adjectives.
If you want to start studying or speed up your Spanish learning process, our Spanish school El Rincón del Tándem is waiting for you in Valencia.
Take a look at our Spanish courses and choose the one that suits you best 😉
Have a good day!
