How to Express Possession in Spanish: A Simple Guide (2024)

What are the words to express possessionin Spanish? That’s mydog. It’s herhouse. Is that yourfood? And so on.

Luckily, we have a set of possessive words in Spanish that are almost as easy as in English. Still, there are a few key differences, like that there is a plural formas well, and that there are different possessive words for the different forms of you in Spanish.

In today’s simple guide, we’ll take you through each of the basic forms of possessive adjectivesin Spanish.

Possession in Spanish, explained

In English, you have: my, your, his, her, its, our, their. In Spanish, we have mi(s), tu(s), su(s), vuestro/a(s), nuestro/a(s). In both languages, these are known as possessive adjectives, and are sometimes just referred to as the possessives.

The main differences are that these possessive words in Spanish have both singularand pluralforms, while vuestroand nuestroalso have both masculineand feminineforms. We’ll explain each of these in detail in the next sections, and include a table of them all in the conclusion.

So how do you show possession in Spanish with these words? Just like in English, these go before a noun. If the noun is plural, we use the plural formof the possessives in Spanish. In practice, these follow the same rules as other adjectives in Spanish.

For instance, “mydog” is “miperro.” If I have two dogs then the plural of “mydogs” becomes “misperros”. That’s it – we just add -sat the end of the “mi” if the noun is plural.

For most of these, it doesn’t matter if our possessions in Spanish are masculine or feminine. The exceptions are with vuestroand nuestro, which we’ll explain when we see them below.

Before we get into each of our possessives we should mention that we’re intentionally keeping this lesson simple. There’s actually a second set of words to express possession in Spanish that we’re not covering here, since they’re less common. For an in-depth lesson, check out our post on all the Spanish possessive adjectives. We also have a post on the possessive pronouns, such as mine and yours in Spanish. We cover all of these and more in this detailed video on expressing possession in Spanish:

Now let’s see each of these possessive words in Spanish!

My in Spanish: Mi, Mis

Myin Spanish singular is mi. It can be used before any singular noun.

• Soy profesor, me gusta mitrabajo. – I am a teacher, I like myjob.
• Mimadre es hermosa. – Mymother is beautiful.

When do you use misin Spanish? Well, myin Spanish plural is mis, so you use it when the noun is plural.

• Mishermanos son mexicanos. – Mybrothers are Mexican.
• Miszapatos están demasiado sucios. – Myshoes are too dirty.

Your (informal singular) in Spanish: Tu, Tus

Do you know the two words for singular you in Spanish? Túis informal and is the second-person pronoun, while ustedis formal and is a third-person pronoun.

When we’re talking to a single person who we address as tú, yourin Spanish is tuif the noun is singular, and tusif the noun is plural.

• ¿Te gusta tutrabajo? – Do you like yourjob?
• Olvidaste tumaleta. – You forgot yoursuitcase.

We only use tus when we’re talking to one person, when whatever that person possesses is in plural.

• ¿Dónde están tusamigos? – Where are yourfriends?
• Guarda tusjuguetes. Tusabuelos vienen de visita. – Put away yourtoys. Yourgrandparents are coming to visit.

We know, the subject pronoun túlooks a lot like its possessive adjective tu, and indeed they’re pronounced exactly the same way. Just remember that accent marks in Spanishare integral parts of words, allowing us to always differentiate between túvs tu!

Third-person singular: Su, Sus

In Spanish, we use the same possessives for each grammatical person, so there’s no difference between his, her, and its. And since the formal singular youform, usted, is also considered a third-person pronoun, it also uses the same words for your.

So whether our subject is él, ella, or usted, the possessive is always sufor singular possessions and susfor plural possessions. (There’s no gender-neutral subject pronounfor itin Spanish, since all nouns are either masculine or feminine.)

His in Spanish: Su, Sus

• Él está pintando sucasa. – He is painting hishouse.
• Él contó suvida en un libro. – He told [the story of] hislife in a book.
• Leonardo no pudo viajar con susamigos. – Leonardo couldn’t travel with hisfriends.
• Pedro compartió susdulces con sushermanas. – Pedro shared hiscandies with hissisters.

Her in Spanish: Su, Sus

• Ella está pintando sucasa. – She is painting herhouse.
• Sarah está casada. Suesposo trabaja conmigo. – Sarah is married. Herhusband works with me.
• Daniela mintió a suspadres sobre sunovio. – Daniela lied to herparents about herboyfriend.
• Mariana se arregló para la fiesta. Susaretes eran hermosos. – Mariana got all done up for the party. Herearrings were beautiful.

Its in Spanish: Su, Sus

• Estamos estudiando al Japón y sucultura. – We are studying Japan and itsculture.
• Ese restaurante es muy bueno. Sucomida es deliciosa. – That restaurant is really good. Itsfood is delicious.
• Esta bicicleta no es segura. Susfrenos no funcionan. – This bike isn’t safe. Itsbrakes don’t work.
• Medellín es hermoso, me encanta susparques. – Medellin is beautiful, I love itsparks.

Your (formal) in Spanish: Su, Sus

• Buenos días señor. Suprimer cliente está en suoficina. – Good morning, sir. Yourfirst client is in youroffice.
• Aquí está sullave. Suhabitación está en el tercer piso del hotel. – Here is yourkey. Yourroom is on the third floor of the hotel.
• Lo siento, señora, pero susperros no pueden entrar al restaurante. – I’m sorry, ma’am, but yourdogs can’t come inside the restaurant.
• Si usted gasta más de $50, le entregaremos suscompras gratis. – If you spend more than $50, we’ll deliver yourgroceries for free.

Our in Spanish: Nuestro, Nuestra, Nuestros, Nuestras

We have two first-person plural subject pronounsfor wein Spanish: nosotrosand nosotras. It doesn’t matter if weis feminine or masculine, since both of these use the same four possessive adjectives. The possessives just need to match the gender and number of the possessed nouns.

Nuestrois used when the possessed noun is singular and masculine, while nuestrais for when the possessed noun is singular and feminine.

• No queremos gastar todo nuestrodinero. – We don’t want to spend all ourmoney.
• Debemos reservar nuestrovuelo. – We must reserve ourflight.
• Nuestrahija fue aceptada en la universidad. – Ourdaughter got accepted to university.
• Necesitamos pintar nuestracasa este verano. – We need to paint ourhouse this summer.

Ourin Spanish plural is nuestroswhen the possessed nouns are masculine, while nuestrasis for when the possessed nouns are feminine.

• Nuestrosamigosson muy chéveres. – Ourfriends are so cool.
• Nuestrosoponentes en el partido están muy nerviosos. – Our opponents in the match are very nervous.
• ¡Me encanta que nuestrasfaldas combinen hoy! – I love that ourskirts match today!
• Nuestrashijas comparten un dormitorio con literas. – Ourdaughters share a bedroom with bunk beds.

Your (informal plural) in Spanish: Vuestro, Vuestra, Vuestros, Vuestras

In Spain, vosotrosand vosotrasare used as the pluralcounterparts to the informal you, tú. In Spanish grammar, these are the second-person plural pronouns, with their own verb conjugations and associated possessives. These are rarely used in Latin American Spanish, however, since ustedesis used as the only plural you. We explain vosotrosvs ustedesin our post on all the different forms of Youin Spanish.

The gender of the group we’re addressing needs to be reflected in the subject pronoun, with vosotrosas the plural you for an all-maleor a mixed-gender groupof people, and vosotrasfor an all-female group. When we use the associated words to express possession in Spanish, however, the gender of the group no longer matters. We use vuestro/a(s)for both vosotrosand vosotras, changing the ending to reflect the gender and number of what is possessed.

When we’re addressing vosotros/as, the associated possessive for yourin Spanish is vuestrowhen the group possesses a single masculinething, or vuestrawhen their possession is singular and feminine.

• Hola chicos. Creo que vi a vuestroprofesor de español en el centro comercial. – Hey guys, I think I saw yourSpanish teacher at the mall.
• Ya es tarde, niños. Es hora de terminar vuestrojuego. – It’s late, kids. It’s time to finish yourgame.
• Nos vamos ahora. Llegaremos a vuestracasa en media hora. – We’re leaving now. We’ll get to yourhouse in a half hour.
• ¡Bravo, amigos! Vuestrabanda tocó muy bien esta noche. – Bravo, my friends! Yourband played so well tonight.

When we’re addressing vosotros/asand their possessions are masculine plural, the associated yourin Spanish plural is vuestros. When their possessions are feminine plural, it’s vuestras.

• ¡Cuidado con vuestrosperros! Están corriendo por toda la casa. – Watch out for yourdogs! They’re running all over the house.
• ¿Tenéis vuestrospasaportes listos para el viaje? – Do you have yourpassports ready for the trip?
• Vosotras y vuestrascompañeras de equipo habéis hecho un gran trabajo en el torneo. – You girls and yourteammates have done a great job in the tournament.
• ¿Tenéis vuestrastoallas para la playa? El día está perfecto para nadar. – Do you have yourtowels for the beach? It’s a perfect day for swimming.

Third-person plural: Su, Sus

As we saw with the third-person singular, the same Spanish possessive words are used for all the third-person plural subjects. Theyin Spanish can be either ellosor ellas. The plural youcorresponding to ustedis ustedes, which is also treated as a third-person pronoun in Spanish grammar. Ustedesis used as the formal plural youin Spain, while in Latin American Spanish ustedesis the plural you for everyone.

The associated words to express possession in Spanish are sufor singular possessions, and susfor plural possessions. There’s no differentiation for gender. These are exactly the same possessive words that we use in the third-person singular, so only through context can we tell if suand susmean his, her, its, their, or your.

We’ll show some examples here where suand susare used as theirin Spanish for third-person plural subjects, and yourin Spanish when addressing plural ustedes.

Their in Spanish: Su, Sus

• Las niñas visitan a supadre cada dos fines de semana. – The girls visit theirfather every other weekend.
• Mis abuelos compraron sucasa antes de que nacieran mis padres. – My grandparents bought theirhouse before my parents were born.
• Las leonas comparten sus presas con suscachorros. – The lionesses share their kills with theircubs.
• Nuestros nuevos vecinosson de Ucrania. Susnombres son muy complicados. – Our new neighbors are from Ukraine. Theirnames are very complicated.

Your (plural) in Spanish: Su, Sus

• Ustedes aman a sugatito. – You guys love yourkitten.
• Señor y señora, su mesa está lista. – Sir, Ma’am, yourtable is ready.
• Por favor apaguen suscelulares. – Please turn off yourcellphones.
• Ustedes tienen que tomar suspropias decisiones. – You all have to make yourown decisions.

Conclusion: Expressing possession in Spanish

Today we presented our easy guide of words to express possession in Spanish. We stuck with the basics, learning the possessive words in Spanish that are equivalent to your possessive adjectives in English. For a more in-depth lesson, we’ll refer you to our post with all of the possessive adjectives. We also have a related post on the possessive pronouns.

For singular subjects in English, you have: my, your, his, her, its. Since our rules for how to show ownership in Spanish depend on whether the possessed thing is in singular or plural, our equivalents are: mi, mis, tu, tus, su, sus. Since we use ustedas a formal third-person pronoun for you, we also use suand susas the corresponding yourin Spanish.

For plural subjects in English, you have: our, your, their. Our rules in Spanish differentiate between both the number and gender of the possessed things for the first- and second-person plural possessives, so we have four possible versions each of ourin Spanish (nuestro, nuestra, neustros, nuestras) and informal yourin Spanish (vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras). We use the same two options to refer to our possessions in Spanish with third-person plural subjects, so suand suscan also mean theirin Spanish (for ellosand ellas) and yourin Spanish (for ustedes).

To sum up all the words to express possession in Spanishwe’ve seen today, we’ll leave you with this table that shows them all in Spanish and English. To see how well you’ve learned them, give the exercises a try at the end of the post!

Possession in Spanish Quiz

Complete each sentence with the correct possessive words in Spanish and English. Since the subject and the owner aren’t all the same, we’ve included the owner in parentheses for every sentence.

Remember to choose the right form of possessive adjective to reflect the number and gender of whatever is possessed, in addition to choosing the right word to match the owner! The answers are below.

1. Conocí a _____ (ella) familia. – I met _____ family.

2. Visité a _____ (yo) doctor. – I visited _____ doctor.

3. Llevé _____ (nosotros) hijos al parque. – I took _____ kids to the park.

4. Él contó _____ (él) vida en el libro. – He told _____ life in the book.

5. Ella perdió _____ (ella) cartera. – She lost _____ purse.

6. Ellasvieron al deportista y admiraron _____ (el) cuerpo. – They saw the athlete and admired _____ body.

7. Luis no pudo viajar con _____ (él) amigos. – Louis coudn’t travel with _____ friends.

8. Fue un placer conocer a _____ (tú) padres. – It was a pleasure to meet _____ parents.

9. Vamos a cumplir _____ (nosotros) meta. – We’ll achieve _____ goal.

10. Él es _____ (yo) mejor amigo. – He is _____ best friend.

Answers

1. Conocí a sufamilia. – I met herfamily.

2. Visité a midoctor. – I visited mydoctor.

3. Llevé nuestroshijos al parque. – I took ourkids to the park.

4. Él contó suvida en el libro. – He told hislife in the book.

5. Ella perdió sucartera. – She lost herpurse.

6. Ellasvieron al deportista y admiraron su cuerpo. – They saw the athlete and admired hisbody.

7. Luis no pudo viajar con susamigos. – Louis coudn’t travel with hisfriends.

8. Fue un placer conocer a tuspadres. – It was a pleasure to meet yourparents.

9. Vamos a cumplir nuestrameta. – We’ll achieve ourgoal.

10. Él es mimejor amigo. – He is mybest friend.