Spanish possessive adjectives are mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro and su. They go before the noun and agree with the thing owned, not the owner: mis padres (my parents), nuestra oficina (our office). Su can mean his, her, your or their; add de él, de ella or de usted when unclear. Body parts take el/la, not a possessive.
possessive + noun · agrees with the noun, never with the owner- Mi, tu, su, nuestro…
- Agreement with the noun
- Show ownership correctly
"My", "your", "his", "our" — in English these words never change. In Spanish they do, and the rule that governs them is the one English speakers get backwards: Spanish possessive adjectives agree with the thing you own, not with you. Mis padres. Nuestra oficina. Sus hijos. Once that clicks, the rest of the topic is a short table and one famously ambiguous word: su.
In this guide you get the full table with plurals, the agreement rule with the mistakes it prevents, the fix for su, the long forms (mío, tuyo, suyo), and the situations where Spanish drops the possessive entirely and says "the" instead.
The big pictureWhen to use Spanish possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives tell you who something belongs to, or who someone is connected to. They go before the noun, exactly like English: mi pasaporte (my passport), tu jefe (your boss), nuestra familia (our family). Use them for:
- Ownership — Es mi maleta. (It's my suitcase.)
- Relationships — Tu hermana es muy simpática. (Your sister is very nice.)
- Belonging to a group or place — Nuestro equipo gana. (Our team is winning.) Su empresa está en Bogotá. (Their company is in Bogotá.)
Two things Spanish does differently. First, there is no 's: "Ana's office" becomes la oficina de Ana (the office of Ana). Second, with body parts, clothing and personal items, Spanish usually prefers the article to the possessive: Me duele la cabeza, not mi cabeza. That one gets its own section below.
The formsHow to form Spanish possessive adjectives: mi, tu, su, nuestro
| Owner | + singular noun | + plural noun | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo (my) | mi | mis | mi vuelo, mis vuelos — my flight, my flights |
| tú (your, informal) | tu | tus | tu llave, tus llaves — your key, your keys |
| él / ella / usted (his, her, its, your) | su | sus | su hijo, sus hijos — his/her son, his/her sons |
| nosotros (our) | nuestro / nuestra | nuestros / nuestras | nuestra ciudad, nuestros vecinos — our city, our neighbors |
| vosotros (your, plural, Spain) | vuestro / vuestra | vuestros / vuestras | vuestro piso, vuestras cosas — your apartment, your things |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes (their, your) | su | sus | su casa, sus coches — their house, their cars |
Only nuestro and vuestro have four forms (gender and number). Mi, tu and su only change for number.
Agreement: with the thing owned, not the owner
This is the rule that separates Spanish from English. The possessive matches the noun that follows it — its number, and for nuestro/vuestro also its gender — and ignores who the owner is completely:
- mis padres — my parents. Plural because parents are two, not because there are two of me.
- nuestra casa — our house. Feminine because casa is feminine, even if every one of "us" is a man.
- sus hijas — his daughters. Plural for the daughters; nothing in the word says whether the owner is one person or five.
The su problem, and how to fix it
Su is the hardest-working word in Spanish. Depending on context it means his, her, its, your (usted), their, or your (ustedes) — six meanings, one syllable. Most of the time the conversation makes it obvious. When it doesn't, Spanish swaps the possessive for de + pronoun after the noun:
- su coche → el coche de él (his car), el coche de ella (her car), el coche de usted (your car), el coche de ellos (their car)
¿Es su oficina? could be a question about my boss or about you. ¿Es la oficina de usted? leaves no doubt. The same de is what Spanish uses for names: el coche de mi hermana (my sister's car).
The long forms: mío, tuyo, suyo
Spanish also has a stressed set of possessives that go after the noun or stand on their own: mío/a/os/as, tuyo/a/os/as, suyo/a/os/as, nuestro/a/os/as, vuestro/a/os/as. Three everyday uses:
- After ser: Esa maleta es mía. (That suitcase is mine.)
- "Of mine / of yours": un colega mío (a colleague of mine), una amiga tuya (a friend of yours).
- With an article, as a pronoun: Tu vuelo sale a las ocho; el mío, a las nueve. (Your flight leaves at eight; mine, at nine.)
Here all the forms agree in gender and number, including mío and tuyo. That is enough for now — the short forms before the noun will carry most of your sentences.
Body parts and clothing: the article instead of the possessive
An English speaker says "I washed my hands"; a Spanish speaker says Me lavé las manos — literally "I washed myself the hands". When the owner is already obvious (usually because of a reflexive or an object pronoun in the sentence), Spanish uses el, la, los, las and skips the possessive:
- Me duele la cabeza. — My head hurts.
- Se rompió el brazo. — He broke his arm.
- Ponte el abrigo. — Put on your coat.
- Quítate los zapatos. — Take off your shoes.
Saying me duele mi cabeza is not wrong grammar so much as strange emphasis — as if there were some other head you might mean. The full picture of when Spanish uses "the" is in the guide to Spanish definite articles.
When you write a possessive, look right, never left. Your eyes go to the noun that follows — is it plural? feminine? — and that decides the form. Who owns it is irrelevant. I tell my students: the possessive is an adjective, and adjectives obey their noun. That single habit removes "nuestro madre" and "mi padres" for good.
In real lifeSpanish possessive adjectives in real sentences
From the classroomCommon mistakes English speakers make with possessives
- Making the possessive agree with the owner. Nuestro madre (because "we" are men) → nuestra madre. Madre is feminine; that is all that matters.
- Forgetting the plural -s. Mi padres, tu amigos → mis padres, tus amigos. English "my" never changes, so the -s feels optional. It isn't.
- Translating 's. Juan's coche or Juan coche → el coche de Juan. Spanish always builds possession with de, and the article on the owned thing is required.
- Using the possessive with body parts. Me lavo mis manos → Me lavo las manos. With a reflexive verb, the owner is already stated; the article is enough.
- Reading su as only "his". Students hear su nombre from a receptionist and think she means someone else's name. She means yours — su is the polite "your". Listen for usted and you will hear it everywhere.
The siblingPossessive adjectives vs articles: mi cabeza or la cabeza?
This is the comparison that trips up the most people, because it is the mirror image of an English habit. English reaches for "my" whenever something is yours; Spanish reaches for the article whenever the owner is already obvious. Both words point at the same thing — the difference is how much you need to say:
| Situation | Possessive (mi, tu, su…) | Definite article (el, la…) |
|---|---|---|
| Owner not obvious from the verb | Mi maleta está en el taxi. (My suitcase is in the taxi.) | — |
| Reflexive verb + body part / clothing | — | Me lavé el pelo. (I washed my hair.) |
| Verb like doler with an object pronoun | — | Le duele la espalda. (His back hurts.) |
| Contrast or emphasis on the owner | Esta es mi mesa, no la tuya. (This is my table, not yours.) | — |
| Noun in general, no owner | — | Me gusta el café. (I like coffee.) |
The short version: if a pronoun in the sentence already tells us whose it is — me, te, se, le — the article wins. Otherwise, the possessive. Those pronouns are their own topic, covered in the guide to Spanish object pronouns, and they pair with possessives constantly: ¿Me prestas tu cargador? (Can you lend me your charger?)
Possessives are one of the friendliest corners of basic Spanish grammar: six words, one agreement rule, one ambiguous su. Learn the table looking to the right, add de él / de ella / de usted when it matters, and let the article do the work whenever the body is involved.
PracticeQuick quiz: spanish possessive adjectives
Six questions from the lesson. Answer in your head, then open to check.
