| The Possessives |
The possessives substitute the expression noun + de + person, which indicate, in Spanish, to who belongs what is named by the noun.
In inflectional languages (such as Latin, Russian, Polish, etc) this relationship is indicated by the genitive case morpheme in the noun that represents the owner
Compare: |
| |
Spanish |
Polish |
| Expression with noun |
Book of Beata |
Książka Beaty |
| Expression with a possessive |
Her book. |
Jej Książka. |
|
It’s not easy to say what part of the speech the possessives and the demonstratives belong to. Some grammarians consider them to be adjectives, others believe they are pronouns. As a matter of fact they behave like both, adjectives and pronouns. Therefore we’ll call them, accordingly, Pronouns when not only characterize the noun by saying to whom it belongs to, but also substitute (stand for) it in the sentence, and Adjectives if do not replace the noun that refers to what is possessed (or point out at) and, in the case of the possessives, may appear in front or after it when it belongs to a singular person as in the examples above.
According to these two positions: in front (antepuesto) or after (pospuesto), all the forms of the Spanish possessives are: |
| |
1ª persona |
2ª persona |
3ª persona |
| |
|
before |
after |
before |
after |
before |
after |
| one owner |
singular |
m. |
mi |
mío |
tu |
tuyo |
su |
suyo |
| f |
mía |
tuya |
suya |
| plural |
m. |
mis |
míos |
tus |
tuyos |
sus |
suyos |
| f |
mías |
tuyas |
suyas |
| many own. |
singular |
m. |
nuestro |
vuestro |
su |
suyo |
| f |
nuestra |
vuestra |
suya |
| plural |
m. |
nuestros |
vuestros |
sus |
suyos |
| f |
nuestras |
vuestras |
suyas |
|
Notice that the possessive Pronoun, being a substitute of the noun, takes always a form of the ‘pospuesto’. Therefore the forms that can be ‘antepuesto’ will always be adjectives forms. Thus, the only ones that can be confused as both adjectives and pronouns are the ones referring to the plural.
In addition to the indication concerning the grammatical person to whom the noun belongs, the Spanish possessives also reveal information concerning the number of items possessed by a particular person and, but only in the case of the plural possessors, to the gender of the item being possessed.
Compare: |
| |
Spanish |
English |
| A single holder |
Mi libro |
My book. |
| Mi mesa |
My table |
| Several possessors |
Mis libros |
My books |
| Mis mesas |
My tables |
|
 |
