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.

1. Español I
SHOWING POSSESSION & RELATIONSHIPS

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