This document discusses showing possession and relationships in Spanish. It explains that the preposition "de" is used instead of apostrophes, as in "la mascota de Tyler." It also covers possessive adjectives like "mi," "tu," "su," "nuestro/a," and "vuestro/a" and how they agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. Alternatives to the ambiguous possessive adjective "su" are presented, such as using "de" plus a pronoun or person's name for more clarity.
2. THE PREPOSITION DE
In Spanish, there are no apostrophes (Tyler’s pet).
Instead, the preposition de is used to show possession or
relationships (la mascota de Tyler).
Sara’s boyfriend el novio de Sara
Daniel’s shirt la camisa de Daniel
Dad’s sisters las hermanas de papá
Maria’s shoes los zapatos de María
Veronica’s husband el esposo de Verónica
Dr. Sánchez’s class la clase del Dr.
Sánchez
3. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
In English, possessive The same is true for
adjectives are also Spanish. Examine the
commonly used to Spanish equivalents
express ownership or below. What patterns do
relationships. you notice?
my cat mi gato
my sisters mis hermanas
her dress su vestido
her shoes sus zapatos
his phone su teléfono
our house nuestra casa
our apartment nuestro apartamento
your friend tu amigo
your socks tus calcetines
4. SPANISH ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS
nuestro, nuestros
mi, mis my our
nuestra, nuestras
vuestro, vuestros
tu, tus your (inf.) your (inf., pl.)
vuestra, vuestras
his, her, its,
su, sus su, sus their, your (pl.)
your (form.)
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES (CONT.)
5. USING POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
Possessive adjectives are adjectives. Therefore, they must agree in
number and gender with the nouns that they describe!
Unlike other adjectives, possessive adjectives are placed before the
nouns that they describe.
You must consider the following three things:
Who is the owner (of the object)?
What is the number (of the object)? (One, or more than one?)
What is the gender (of the object)? (Masculine or feminine? … for
nuestro/vuestro only)
my uncle
mi tío
my grandparents
mis abuelos
her notebook
su cuaderno
our sister
nuestra hermana
our cousins
nuestros primos
6. ALTERNATIVES TO SU
Why do you think that the possessive adjective
su can be confusing?
The word su can mean: his, her, its, your (formal),
your (plural), and their!
If you need to emphasize or give more detail,
simply use “de + pronoun or person’s name”
instead of the possessive adjective su.
Es su tío.
Es el tío de él. de usted, él, ella, ustedes, ellos(-as)
Es el tío de Paco. de person’s name