POSSESSIVES With a Name With someone s name in English, we simply add an apostrophe S to the name to indicate that they own something, eg. María s daughter, Peter s house, John s car, Carla s cat. In Spanish this is impossible, we have to change the word order and add the word de.. La hija de María The daughter of María (María s daughter) La casa de Peter The house of Peter (Peter s house) El coche de John The car of John (John s car) Translate the following sentences - Carla s cat is sick. El gato de Carla está enferma. - Philip s trousers are black. - John s book is blue. - Julie s son is 5. - That car is Michael s. - Ciara s hair is black. - Philip and Sarah s house has two bedrooms. - Dublin s river is the Liffey. - Marta s uncle is famous. - Diego s dog is white. My, your, his, her.. Now we need to move on to how to say My dog, Your house, His sister, Our car..etc Mi perro my dog..mis perros my dogs Tu casa your house (with tú).tus casas your houses Su casa your house (with usted) sus casas your houses Su coche his/her car. sus coches his/her cars (Note that tú (with an accent) means you, familiar form, while tu (no accent) means Your ) Su coche their car.sus coches their cars 1
Note: Mi, Tu, Su, do not have to change with the gender. In other words Mi casa (feminine) Mi perro (masculine) Masculine and Feminine are the same. They do have to change with plural nouns, as we have seen above Mi casa mis casas. Our/ Your (plural) Nuestro coche our car..nuestros coches our cars Nuestra casa our house Nuestras casas our houses Vuestro coche your (plural) car Vuestra casa your (plural) house Note: Nuestro and Vuestro do have separate masculine and feminine forms, as can be seen above. This is not true for Mi, Tu and Su. Nuestro and vuestro also have to be made plural when used with a plural noun. Put the correct possessive adjective in the space Eg. Mi casa es grande. (my) - coche es azul. (your (singular)) - amigo se llama Paul. (our) - hija es alta. (their) - padre trabaja en el banco. (his) - hermana es rica. (our) - Esta es bicicleta. (her) - padres son viejos. (my) - tío vive en Francia. (our) - hijos son médicos. (their) - casa es muy grande. (your, plural) - amigos son ricos. (his) - hijas hablan bien el español. (our) - primas viven en Dublin. (my) - Diego habla con madre. (his) - Ellos tienen cámara. (their) - Quiero ver fotos. (your) 2
- Dónde están amigos? (my) - chaquetas están sucias. (their) - Carlos busca llaves. (your) - Ana quiere comprar coche. (my) - Marta va con padre. (her) - casa es alta. (our) - Dónde está pasaporte, señor Gómez? (your, (usted)) - hijos son preciosos. (their) TRANSLATE - My brother is sick. - Your shirt is blue. - Our dog is old. - His job is difficult. - Her sister is twenty. - Our mother has a cat. - Your (plural) car is red. - Their friend is called Sarah. - My friends are in Paris. - Your shoes are black. - His parents live in London. - Her sisters are blond. - Our nieces (sobrinas) are young. - Their problems are big. - My books are on the shelf (el estante). 3
- I want to see her photos. - Diego talks to his mother every week. - We love our children. - They never drive their cars. - Michael sees his friends every week. - I care for (cuidar) my father. Mine, Yours, His, Hers, - Possessive Pronouns In English we distinguish between my and mine. It is my car We use my with a noun my car. I like your car, but I prefer mine...we use mine on its own, without a noun following. It is a possessive pronoun. In Spanish we have the same distinction. Es mi coche. It s my car. Me gusta tu coche, pero prefiero el mío I like your car but I prefer mine. There is a feminine form for every person.. Me gusta tu casa pero prefiero la mía. And it also has to be made plural. Me gustan tus libros, pero prefiero los míos. Me gustan tus cartas pero prefiero las mías. Using the verb Ser, we can leave out el or la Me gusta tu coche, prefiero el mío. Este coche es mío. Es tu coche. El coche es tuyo. Me gusta mi coche pero prefiero el tuyo I like my car but I prefer yours. Me gusta mi casa pero prefiero la tuya I like my house but I prefer yours. Me gustan mis coches pero prefiero los tuyos. Es su coche. El coche es suyo. Me gusta mi coche pero prefiero el suyo I like my car but I prefer his/hers/theirs. Me gusta mi casa pero prefiero la suya I like my house but I prefer his/hers/theirs. Nuestro and vuestro are used the same. Es nuestro coche. El coche es nuestro. Me gusta tu coche pero prefiero el nuestro I like your car but I prefer ours. Me gusta tu casa pero prefiero la nuestra I like your house but I prefer ours. They also need to be plural with a plural object Los nuestros/ Las nuestras Los vuestros/las vuestras 4
Again, using the verb Ser es nuestro, son nuestros we leave out the el, la, los or las. Otherwise we have to put them in. Translate the following. Eg. - My father is rich. How about yours? Mi padre es rico. Y lo tuyo? - Our sister is blonde. How about yours? - His car is fast. How about hers? - Our family is big. How about theirs? - Their exam was difficult. How about ours? - I like your dog but I prefer mine. - That bicycle is mine. - The apples are yours. - This is your pen, have you (has visto) seen mine? - That s not my dog, it s hers. - That s not our car, it s theirs. - That s not your room, it s ours. - They are not your chips, they re mine. - They are not my friends, they re yours. - That s not my money, it s ours. SOLUTIO S - Tu coche es azul. (your (singular)) - Nuestro amigo se llama Paul. (our) - Su hija es alta. (their) - Su padre trabaja en el banco. (his) - Nuestra hermana es rica. (our) - Esta es su bicicleta. (her) - Mis padres son viejos. (my) 5
- Nuestro tío vive en Francia. (our) - Sus hijos son médicos. (their) - Vuestra casa es muy grande. (your, plural) - Sus amigos son ricos. (his) - Nuestras hijas hablan bien el español. (our) - Mis primas viven en Dublin. (my) - Diego habla con su madre. (his) - Ellos tienen su cámara. (their) - Quiero ver tus fotos. (your) - Dónde están mis amigos? (my) - Sus chaquetas están sucias. (their) - Carlos busca tus llaves. (your) - Ana quiere comprar mi coche. (my) - Marta va con su padre. (her) - Nuestra casa es alta. (our) - Dónde está su pasaporte, señor Gómez? (your, (usted)) - Sus hijos son preciosos. (their) Translations. - My brother is sick. Mi hermano está enfermo. - Your shirt is blue. Tu camisa es azul. - Our dog is old. Nuestro perro es viejo. - His job is difficult. Su trabajo es dificil. - Her sister is twenty. Su hermana tiene veinte años. - Our mother has a cat. Nuestra madre tiene un gato. - Your (plural) car is red. Vuestro coche es rojo. 6
- Their friend is called Sarah. Su amiga se llama Sarah. - My friends are in Paris. Mis amigos están en Paris. - Your shoes are black. Tus zapatos son negros. - His parents live in London. Sus padres viven en Londres. - Her sisters are blond. Sus hermanas son rubias. - Our nieces (sobrinas) are young. Nuestras sobrinas son jovenes. - Their problems are big. Sus problemas son grandes. - My books are on the shelf (el estante). Mis libros están en el estante. - I want to see her photos. Quiero ver sus fotos. - Diego talks to his mother every week. Diego habla con su madre cada semana. - We love our children. Amamos/queremos a nuestros hijos. - They never drive their cars. Ellos nunca conducen sus coches. - Michael sees his friends every week. Michael ve sus amigos todas las semanas. - I care for (cuidar) my father. Cuido de mi padre. Mío, mía, tuyo, tuya...etc. - Our sister is blonde. How about yours? Nuestra hermana es rubia. Y la tuya? - His car is fast. How about hers? Su coche es rápido. Y lo suyo? - Our family is big. How about theirs? Nuestra familia es grande. Y la suya? - Their exam was difficult. How about ours? Su exámen fue dificil. Y lo nuestro? - I like your dog but I prefer mine. Me gusta tu perro pero prefiero lo mío. - That bicycle is mine. Esa bicicleta es mía. 7
- The apples are yours. Las manzanas son tuyas. - This is your pen, have you (has visto) seen mine? Este es tu bolígrafo, has visto el mío? (with ser (soy, eres, es, etc), drop the article (el, lo, los, las) - That s not my dog, it s hers. No es mi perro, es suyo. - That s not our car, it s theirs. No es nuestro coche, es suyo. - That s not your room, it s ours. No es tu habitación, es nuestra. - They are not your chips, they re mine. No son tus patas fritas, son mías. - They are not my friends, they re yours. No son mis amigos, son tuyos. - That s not my money, it s ours. No es mi dinero, es tuyo. 8