LingoflyMy, your and the treacherous su
Mis hermanos — my brothers: mis is plural because there are several brothers, not because there's more than one of you. Short possessives stand in front of the noun this way in general. They agree with the thing owned, not with the owner: mi hermano, mis hermanos, nuestra casa. For example: “Mis hermanos viven en Sevilla” — My brothers live in Seville. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not…
How it works
Mis hermanos — my brothers: mis is plural because there are several brothers, not because there's more than one of you. Short possessives stand in front of the noun this way in general. They agree with the thing owned, not with the owner: mi hermano, mis hermanos, nuestra casa.
Only nuestro and vuestro change for gender. Mi, tu and su look the same for masculine and feminine.
The troublemaker is su. It covers 'his', 'her', 'their' and 'your': su casa can be any of four houses. When talk alone will not settle it, Spanish adds a preposition: el coche de ella, la casa de usted.
There are long forms too: mío, tuyo, suyo. They follow the noun or ser: un primo mío, este cargador es mío. Mi amigo is my friend; un amigo mío is one of them.
Table
| owner | before the noun | after the noun | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | mi / mis | mío, mía | mi tía · una tía mía |
| you (tú) | tu / tus | tuyo, tuya | tu buzón · es tuyo |
| he, she, usted | su / sus | suyo, suya | su patio · el patio de ella |
| we | nuestro, nuestra | nuestro, nuestra | nuestra boda |
| you (vosotros) | vuestro, vuestra | vuestro, vuestra | vuestros nietos |
| they, ustedes | su / sus | suyo, suya | su fiesta · la fiesta de ellos |
By example
- Mis hermanos viven en SevillaMy brothers live in Seville
- Un primo mío se casa en junioA cousin of mine is getting married in June
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
My, your and the treacherous su: how does it work in Spanish?
Mis hermanos — my brothers: mis is plural because there are several brothers, not because there's more than one of you. Short possessives stand in front of the noun this way in general. They agree with the thing owned, not with the owner: mi hermano, mis hermanos, nuestra casa.
What does it look like in a Spanish example sentence?
“Mis hermanos viven en Sevilla” — My brothers live in Seville. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.