My, your and the treacherous su
The short possessives stand before the noun and agree with the thing, not the owner — the opposite of English, where 'my' never changes. mi hermano, mis hermanos, nuestra casa, nuestras casas. 'Mis hermanos' is plural because there are several brothers, not several of me. Only nuestro and vuestro change for gender; mi, tu and su serve masculine and feminine alike. For example: “Mis padres viven en su pueblo, el de…
How it works
The short possessives stand before the noun and agree with the thing, not the owner — the opposite of English, where 'my' never changes. mi hermano, mis hermanos, nuestra casa, nuestras casas. 'Mis hermanos' is plural because there are several brothers, not several of me. Only nuestro and vuestro change for gender; mi, tu and su serve masculine and feminine alike.
Now the main snag. Su means 'his', 'her', 'their' and 'your' (to usted) all at once. Su casa can be his house, her house, their house or your house. A Spaniard tells them apart from context, and when context fails — asks again or clarifies with a preposition: la casa de él, la casa de ella, la casa de usted. Learn the trick straight away: it is not a bookish subtlety but what untangles the confusion in live speech every day.
There is also a second set — the long forms: mío, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, vuestro, suyo. They follow the noun or stand after ser: un amigo mío, este cargador es mío, ¡Dios mío!. The difference from mi is not stylistic: mi amigo — the specific friend of mine; un amigo mío — one of my friends, newly introduced into the conversation.
And the thing English never prepares you for: with body parts, clothing and close family, Spanish often makes do with the article instead of the possessive. Me duele la cabeza, ponte el abrigo, voy a ver a la abuela. Whose head and whose coat counts as obvious, and me duele mi cabeza sounds as if I owned several heads.
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 padres viven en su pueblo, el de mi madreMy parents live in their village — my mother's
- Su hija es un bebé precioso, la hija de ellaHer daughter is a gorgeous baby
- 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?
The short possessives stand before the noun and agree with the thing, not the owner — the opposite of English, where 'my' never changes. mi hermano, mis hermanos, nuestra casa, nuestras casas. 'Mis hermanos' is plural because there are several brothers, not several of me. Only nuestro and vuestro…
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Mis padres viven en su pueblo, el de mi madre” — My parents live in their village — my mother's. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.