Possessive pronouns in Spanish: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs

Learn about Pronombre posesivo 

English Masc sing Masc pl Fem sing Fem pl
mine mío míos mía mías
yours (tú) tuyo tuyos tuya tuyas
yours (usted) suyo suyos suya suyas
his suyo suyos suya suyas
hers suyo suyos suya suyas
its suyo suyos suya suyas
ours nuestro nuestros nuestra nuestras
yours plural (vosotros) vuestro vuestros vuestra vuestras
yours plural (ustedes) suyo suyos suya suyas
theirs suyo suyos suya suyas

Read and listen to these examples:

El disco de Alejandro Sanz es mío.The CD of Alejandro Sanz is mine.

Las croquetas de jamón eran mías.The ham croquettes were mine.

Elsa dice que ese pantalón vaquero es tuyo.Elsa says that that pair of jeans is yours. [you = tú]

Estos calcetines rojos son tuyos.These red socks are yours. [you = tú]

Yo creo que mi libro de ruso no es suyo.I think that my Russian book is not his.

El collar del perro es suyo.The dog's collar belongs to it. [lit: The dog's collar is its.]

Las bicicletas no eran suyas.The bicycles were not hers.

Ese bocadillo de atún no era suyo.That tuna sandwich was not yours. [you = usted]

Esta casa no es suya.This house is not yours. [you = ustedes]

Estos cuadernos no eran suyos.These exercise books were not theirs/yours [ustedes].

Esa moto es muy cara y es nuestra.That motorbike is very expensive and it's ours.

No eran nuestros boletos, sino vuestros.They weren't our tickets, but yours. [you = vosotros]

In the examples above, possessive pronouns agree with the noun they replace.

Sometimes these possessive pronouns are accompanied by the definite article:

El, la, los, las + pronombre posesivo

We generally use this formula in two cases:

1. To reinforce the feeling of possession.

1. Este regalo es tuyo. 2. Este regalo es el tuyoThis present is yours. [you = tú. The article "el" reinforces the possession.]
Este regalo es nuestro. Este regalo es el nuestroThis present is ours. This present is our present. [reinforced possession]

2. When the possessive pronoun is at the beginning of a sentence.

-Mi aspiradora no funciona. -La mía se rompió ayer también.-My vacuum cleaner doesn't work. -Mine broke yesterday too.
-Nuestra aspiradora no funciona. -La nuestra se rompió ayer también.-Our vacuum cleaner doesn't work. -Ours broke yesterday too.

More examples:

-Sus viajes son a diferentes lugares. -Y los tuyos, ¿adónde son?-His trips are to different places. -And yours, where are they to? [you =tú]

-Mis vacaciones fueron estupendas. -¿Y las suyas, cómo fueron?-My holidays were great. -And yours, how were they? [you = ustedes]

-Mis tortillas son las mejores. -Pues las mías llevan menos aceite.-My omelettes are the best ones. -Well, mine have less oil.

-Sus novelas tratan sobre la historia de España. -Te equivocas, las suyas tratan sobre la historia de Cuba.-His novels deal with Spanish history. -You are mistaken, his are about Cuban history. [you = tú]

In Spanish, suyo, suya, suyos and suyas can refer to six different owners:

  1. he
  2. she
  3. it
  4. you [usted]
  5. you [ustedes]
  6. they

You need to work out the owner by the context.

It is not possible to use any of these possessive pronouns in front of a noun! Use a possessive adjective instead:

Míos libros son muy interesantes. Mis libros son muy interesantes.My books are very interesting.

See also Adjetivo posesivo

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Examples and resources

Esa moto es muy cara y es nuestra.That motorbike is very expensive and it's ours.
Esta casa no es suya.This house is not yours. [you = ustedes]
No eran nuestros boletos, sino vuestros.They weren't our tickets, but yours. [you = vosotros]
Las mesas no eran de Marta, sino nuestras.The tables were not Marta's, but ours.
1. Este regalo es tuyo. 2. Este regalo es el tuyoThis present is yours. [you = tú. The article "el" reinforces the possession.]
Yo creo que mi libro de ruso no es suyo.I think that my Russian book is not his.
-Mis vacaciones fueron estupendas. -¿Y las suyas, cómo fueron?-My holidays were great. -And yours, how were they? [you = ustedes]
-Mis tortillas son las mejores. -Pues las mías llevan menos aceite.-My omelettes are the best ones. -Well, mine have less oil.
-Mi aspiradora no funciona. -La mía se rompió ayer también.-My vacuum cleaner doesn't work. -Mine broke yesterday too.
Ese bocadillo de atún no era suyo.That tuna sandwich was not yours. [you = usted]
Las bicicletas no eran suyas.The bicycles were not hers.
No es nuestro calendario, sino vuestro.It is not our calendar, but yours. [you = vosotros]
Míos libros son muy interesantes. Mis libros son muy interesantes.My books are very interesting.
No eran nuestras pulseras, sino las vuestras.They weren't our bracelets, but yours. [You = vosotros]
Las croquetas de jamón eran mías.The ham croquettes were mine.
Estos cuadernos no eran suyos.These exercise books were not theirs/yours [ustedes].
-Sus viajes son a diferentes lugares. -Y los tuyos, ¿adónde son?-His trips are to different places. -And yours, where are they to? [you =tú]
Aunque tengo una casa muy lujosa, prefiero la vuestra.Although I have a very luxurious house, I prefer yours. [you = vosotros]
El collar del perro es suyo.The dog's collar belongs to it. [lit: The dog's collar is its.]
Elsa dice que ese pantalón vaquero es tuyo.Elsa says that that pair of jeans is yours. [you = tú]
-Nuestra aspiradora no funciona. -La nuestra se rompió ayer también.-Our vacuum cleaner doesn't work. -Ours broke yesterday too.
Estos calcetines rojos son tuyos.These red socks are yours. [you = tú]
Este regalo es nuestro. Este regalo es el nuestroThis present is ours. This present is our present. [reinforced possession]
Vuestros papeles no eran fáciles de entender, pero los nuestros sí.Your papers were not easy to understand, but ours were. [you = vosotros]
El disco de Alejandro Sanz es mío.The CD of Alejandro Sanz is mine.
No es vuestro sombrero, es el nuestro.It is not your hat, it is ours.
-Sus novelas tratan sobre la historia de España. -Te equivocas, las suyas tratan sobre la historia de Cuba.-His novels deal with Spanish history. -You are mistaken, his are about Cuban history. [you = tú]
I'll be right with you...