A possessive shows that something belongs to, or is associated with, someone.
Type
Example
Role
Possessive adjective
my car
goes before a noun
Possessive pronoun
The car is mine
replaces a noun entirely
English possessive adjectives
Subject
Possessive adjective
Example
I
my
my house
you
your
your book
he
his
his phone
she
her
her bag
it
its
its color
we
our
our team
they
their
their car
Key English rule: never changes form
English possessive adjectives don’t change no matter what noun follows — singular, plural, masculine-sounding or feminine-sounding:
Noun
Possessive
my cat
my
my cats
my
my house
my
my houses
my
Examples (English)
Sentence
Possessive
My brother lives in Madrid.
my
Is this your bag?
your
His flight leaves at 6.
his
Her office is on the third floor.
her
The dog wagged its tail.
its
Our meeting got rescheduled.
our
Their house has a garden.
their
I lost my keys.
my
Is that your idea?
your
Their kids go to that school.
their
Why it works this way
English possessives agree with the owner, never with the thing owned
One fixed form per person — no gender, no plural agreement with the noun
How Spanish handles possessives differently
Spanish possessive adjectives agree with the noun they describe (the thing owned), not with the owner’s gender
Most possessives have a singular and plural form; a few also have separate masculine/feminine forms
Possessives go before the noun, just like in English
Spanish has an additional formal form (su) that covers usted/ustedes, layering onto the tú/vosotros vs usted/ustedes formality distinction already seen in Subject Pronouns
Key differences
English
Spanish
One invariant form per person
Agrees with the noun owned (number, sometimes gender)
“his/her/its/your(formal)” are distinct
All collapse into su — context or clarification resolves ambiguity
No plural agreement
mis, tus, sus, nuestros/as, vuestros/as show plural
The short-form possessives (before the noun)
English
Masc. sing.
Fem. sing.
Masc. plural
Fem. plural
my
mi
mi
mis
mis
your (informal)
tu
tu
tus
tus
his/her/its/your (formal)
su
su
sus
sus
our
nuestro
nuestra
nuestros
nuestras
your all (informal)
vuestro
vuestra
vuestros
vuestras
their/your all (formal)
su
su
sus
sus
Only nuestro and vuestro change for gender. mi/tu/su only change for number.
Side-by-side: English → Spanish
mi / mis — my
English
Spanish
my house
mi casa
my houses
mis casas
my brother
mi hermano
my brothers
mis hermanos
my friend
mi amigo
my friends
mis amigos
This is my car.
Este es mi coche.
My keys are here.
Mis llaves están aquí.
My phone broke.
Mi teléfono se rompió.
I love my family.
Quiero a mi familia.
tu / tus — your (informal)
English
Spanish
your bag
tu bolso
your bags
tus bolsos
your idea
tu idea
your ideas
tus ideas
Is this your book?
¿Es este tu libro?
Where are your parents?
¿Dónde están tus padres?
I like your dress.
Me gusta tu vestido.
Your turn.
Tu turno.
Your keys, please.
Tus llaves, por favor.
Your plan is good.
Tu plan es bueno.
su / sus — his / her / its / your (formal) / their
English
Spanish
his car
su coche
her car
su coche
their car
su coche
your car (formal)
su coche
his keys
sus llaves
her keys
sus llaves
their keys
sus llaves
Her office is upstairs.
Su oficina está arriba.
Their house is big.
Su casa es grande.
Sir, is this your bag?
Señor, ¿es su bolso?
Because su is ambiguous, Spanish clarifies with de él / de ella / de ellos when needed: el coche de ella (her car, unambiguously).
nuestro/a/os/as — our
English
Spanish
our house
nuestra casa
our houses
nuestras casas
our car
nuestro coche
our cars
nuestros coches
Our team won.
Nuestro equipo ganó.
Our plans changed.
Nuestros planes cambiaron.
This is our project.
Este es nuestro proyecto.
Our teacher is strict.
Nuestra profesora es estricta.
Our friends are here.
Nuestros amigos están aquí.
Our city is beautiful.
Nuestra ciudad es hermosa.
vuestro/a/os/as — your all (informal, Spain-specific)
English
Spanish
your (all) house
vuestra casa
your (all) car
vuestro coche
your (all) friends
vuestros amigos
your (all) ideas
vuestras ideas
Is this your (all) dog?
¿Es este vuestro perro?
Your (all) team lost.
Vuestro equipo perdió.
Your (all) house is lovely.
Vuestra casa es preciosa.
Where are your (all) bags?
¿Dónde están vuestras maletas?
Your (all) plan works.
Vuestro plan funciona.
Your (all) kids are sweet.
Vuestros niños son simpáticos.
Common mistakes
❌ Agreeing the possessive with the owner’s gender: mi changing for a female owner → ✅ mi/tu/su never change for gender, only nuestro/vuestro do
❌ Using tu for usted → ✅ formal “your” is su, not tu
❌ Forgetting the plural noun requires plural possessive → ✅ mis llaves, not mi llaves
❌ Assuming su always means “his” → ✅ su = his/her/its/their/your(formal) — use de él/de ella to disambiguate
Summary
Spanish possessives agree with the thing owned, not the owner
mi/tu/su change only for number; nuestro/vuestro change for gender and number
su/sus is shared by él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, ustedes — clarify with de él/de ella if ambiguous
vuestro is the Castellano-specific plural informal “your,” paired with vosotros
See also:Subject Pronouns — the tú/vosotros/usted split these possessives mirror. See also:Pronoun Table — all pronoun forms in one lookup.