10.2 Accentuated and unaccented possessive pronouns

For the adjectival possessive pronouns the term unaccentuated personal pronouns is used. Some grammar books use the term adjectivos posesivos (adjectival possessive pronouns) and pronombres possessivos (possessive pronouns). The following table shows the unaccented personal pronouns.

As you can see the personal pronouns refer to the number, and in the first and second person plural the gender of the object that is owned.

  Unaccented possessive pronouns (adjectival possessive pronouns)

Spanish English
singular
mi casa
mi bolígrafo
plural
mis casas
mis bolígrafos
singular
my house
my pen
plural
my houses
my pens
tu casa
tu bolígrafo
tus casas
tus bolígrafos
your house
your pen
your houses
your pens
su casa
su bolígrafo
sus casas
sus bolígrafos
his house
his pen
her house
her pen
his houses
his pens
her houses
her pens
nuestra casa
nuestro bolígrafo
nuestras casas
nuestros bolígrafos
our house
our pen
our houses
our pens
vuestra casa
vuestro bolígrafo
vuestras casas
vuestros bolígrafos
your house
your pen
your houses
your pens
su casa
su bolígrafo
sus casas
sus bolígrafos
their house
their pen
their houses
their pens

There is no difference between his, her and their. You will find out only from the context, which one is meant. Some more examples:

  Example
Te regalo mi coche. = I give you my car.
Ven nuestra casa. = They see our house.
Ven nuestras casas. = They see our houses.
Venden sus libros.= They sell his, her or their books.
Habéis robado mis libros. = You have stolen my books.
Bajan de su coche.= They get out of his, her or their car.
Ven su coche. = They see his, her or their car.
  Ven sus libros. = They see his, her or their books.



The accentuated personal pronouns do not describe a noun, but they substitute them fully.



  Accentuated possessive pronouns

Spanish English
singular
mía
mío
plural
mías
míos
singular
mine
mine
plural
mine
mine
tuya
tuyo
tuyas
tuyos
yours
yours
yours
yours
suya
suyo
 
 
suyas
suyos
 
 
his
his
hers
hers
his
his
hers
hers
nuestra
nuestro
nuestras
nuestros
ours
ours
ours
ours
vuestra
vuestro
vuestras
vuestros
yours
yours
yours
yours
suya
suyo
suyas
suyos
theirs
theirs
theirs
theirs

The English does not differentiate in number or in gender using the possessive pronouns. Also the accentuated possessive pronouns have to be in accordance with the owned object in gender and number. Again we can't see a difference between his, hers and theirs.



  Example

Es el mío y no el tuyo.
= That's mine not yours.
¿Este bolígrafo es tuyo?
= Is this pen yours?
Podemos ver el tuyo, pero no el nuestro.
= Yours we can see but not ours.
Tu coche es nuevo, pero el suyo es muy viejo.
= Your car is new but his, hers or theirs is very old.
Ocúpate de lo tuyo y yo de lo mío.
= For yours we can pay 1000 € but for his, her or theirs nothing.
Por el tuyo podemos pagar 1000 € pero por el suyo nada.
= Take care of your stuff not of mine.


Additionally there is the possibility that the accentuated possessive pronoun is used together with a noun. In those cases it is put after the noun that is described and not before it. One possibility for this kind of construction is when the noun has an undefined article, meaning that the noun is not defined.

  Example: undefined noun

Es un amigo mío. = This is a friend of mine.
Uno de los bolígrafos es nuestro. = One of the pens is ours.
Una de nuestras casas fue destruida. = One of our houses was destroyed.


Furthermore the accentuated personal pronoun is used when the phrase includes a noun with a demonstrative pronoun.

  Example: noun with demonstrative pronoun

Este bolígrafo es mío. = This pen is mine.
Esta casa es nuestra. = This house is ours.
Estos coches son vuestros, si pagáis los 10000 €. = The cars are yours if you pay 10,000 €.





contact privacy statement imprint