Why needs "el" here?

AsukaA1Kwiziq community member

Why needs "el" here?

Hi, if "tuyo" means "yours" by itself, why do you still need "el" in front of it in this sentence:

Mi coche corre tan rápidamente como el tuyo.

Asked 3 years ago
JohnC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Hi Asuka,

My car goes as fast as yours! Tuyo or suyo or any of the possessive pronouns can stand on their own, but when you want to reinforce the feeling of possession, you attach the definite article (el, la, los, las) to the possessive pronoun, hence "el tuyo." (masculine el because coche is masculine). So I think the speaker is singling out the car  that the other person owns, for whatever reason. 

There is a lesson on this called "how to say mine, his, hers etc possessive pronouns" where they give an example "Este regalo es el tuyo" this gift is YOURS - implying that it is not for someone else who may be there at the time. In this way they are emphasising possession. It is worth searching for the article because it give "un montón" of examples as well as another rule that is worth learning.

I'm sure that the teachers may add more.

Saludos. John

InmaKwiziq team member

Hola Asuka

This is the lesson John mentioned. You can have a look here.

Saludos

Inma

Why needs "el" here?

Hi, if "tuyo" means "yours" by itself, why do you still need "el" in front of it in this sentence:

Mi coche corre tan rápidamente como el tuyo.

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