ENGLISH LESSON FIRST: Possessive adjectives vs. possessive pronouns.
Adjectives are used to modify nouns, whereas pronouns are used to replace nouns.
Possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns can be easily confused at first because of the similarity in words, so you have to look at how they are being used.
Possessive adjective:
my
your
her
his
its
their
our
Ex.
my dog, your cat, his canary, their car
All of these are modifying a noun, changing what we know about it, further describing it.
Possessive pronouns:
mine
yours
his
hers
theirs
ours
ex.
That is Sally`s.
That is hers.
That is Brina's.
That is his.
These would be used to replace possessive nouns. Without pronouns, mine and yours would simply be the names of the people involved, rather than the pronouns we usually use.
SPANISH LESSON, POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS:
Possessive adjectives:
1. Must match the nouns they modify in number and gender
ex. la pelota amarilla - the yellow ball
las pelotas amarillas - the yellow balls
el papel amarillo - the yellow paper
los papeles amarillos - the yellow papers
2. Spanish has two forms of possessive adjectives, a short form before nouns and a long form after nouns. The short form is more common, and the long form can have a more formal, literary feel. The long is more often used when translating -of ours, yours, etc...
Short form of possessive adjectives, before a noun, sometimes known as possessive determiners -
mí, mís - my
tu, tus - your (single, familiar) - notice the lack of accent on 'tu.' Tú means 'you'
su, sus - your (single or plural formal), its, his, her, their
nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras - our (same in long and short forms)
ex. Quiero comprar tu coche - I want to buy your car.
Quiero comprar sus coches - I want to buy her cars. (whether it's her, his, and such is determined by context)
Long form of possessive adjectives, after a noun -
mío, mía, míos, mías - my, - of mine
tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas - your (singular, familiar), of yours
suyo, suya, suyos, suyas - its, his, her, your (formal, singular or plural), of its, of his, of hers, of yours (sing, formal), their, of theirs
nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras - our, of ours
There is one more form which is not used in Latin America, for you, plural, familiar.
ex. Prefiera la casa tuya. I prefer your house. I prefer the house of yours.
Es un coche nuestro. It is our car. It is a car of ours.
DIFFERENCES IN USE:
1. For body parts, clothing, and items intimately associated with an individual, Spanish uses el, la, los, or las - the equivalent for the.' However, it is still translated as a possessive adjective.
ex. Sam arregla el pelo. Sam brushes his hair
2. Repetition of possessive adjectives
In Spanish, a single possessive adjective refers to one noun only, unless multiple nouns refer to the same person or object.
Son mis amigos y hermanos - They are my friends and siblings. However, a better translation might be 'They are both my friends and siblings.'
Son mis amigos y mis hermanos. This is to say 'They are my friends and siblings' and mean that some of them are your friends and others of them are your siblings.
So 'my cats and dogs' would be 'mis gatos y mis perros.'
Possessive pronouns: EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE LONG FORM POSS. ADJ.
1. They match the noun that would be 'modified' by them as if they were poss. adjectives.
Example: Tu madre y la mía no pueden cantar. Your mother and mine can't sing. We use 'la mía' because it matches 'mother,' and mine represents: my mother.
Mis calcetines son rojos. Los suyos son verdes. My socks are red. Yours/his/hers/yours pl/theirs are green. Suyos is plural and masculine to match the word socks, but doesn't give us any idea whether this is his, hers, yours, etc....
The pronouns:
mío, mía, míos, mías - mine
tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas - yours (singular, familiar)
suyo, suya, suyos, suyas - its, his, hers, yours (formal, singular or plural), theirs
nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras - ours
Some linguists consider them possessive adjectives, still. These are NOT used the same way we use poss. pronouns in English.
DIFFERENCES IN USE:
1. Possessive pronouns are usually preceded by the article el, la, los, or las. The exception is when the poss. pronouns follows the verb 'ser,' like in es or son. It is usually not used then, although it can be kept for emphasis.
2. Suyo - This is obviously pretty ambiguous. If the context doesn't reveal what suyo should mean, it can be left out and replaced with things like 'de él,' 'de ella,' 'de ellos/ellas.' To mean of his, of hers, of theirs.
Ex. No es mi coche. Es de ella. It isn't my car. It's hers.
3. The singluar masculine form can also be treated as neuter and preceded by 'lo.' Even though it is singular, the pronoun can stand for multiple objects. The neuter is used when no specific object is being referred to.
Ex. No toques lo mìo. Don't touch what's mine. Don't touch my things.
Lo mío es importante. What's mine is important. My things are important.
Sources for this information:
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-difference-between-a-possessive-pronoun-and-a-possessive-adjective.htm#did-you-know
spanish info long form - http://spanish.about.com/od/adjectives/a/long_form_possessive_adjectives.htm
Spanish info short form - http://spanish.about.com/od/adjectives/a/possessive_adjectives.htm
Spanish info poss. pronoun - http://spanish.about.com/od/pronouns/a/possessive_pronouns.htm
