Possessives and pronouns (Edexcel GCSE Spanish): Revision Notes
Possessives and pronouns
Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives show who owns something. These are essential building blocks in Spanish that help us express ownership and relationships between people and objects.
Key Rule: Agreement with the Object, Not the Owner
Possessive adjectives must match the noun being described, not the person who owns it. For example, if talking about "his shoes", the adjective agrees with "shoes" (masculine plural), not with "he".
Possessive adjectives table
| English | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| my | mi | mis |
| your (informal) | tu | tus |
| his/her/its | su | sus |
| our | nuestro/a | nuestros/as |
| your (formal/plural) | vuestro/a | vuestros/as |
| their | su | sus |
Worked Example: Possessive Adjective Agreement
- Mis amigos = my friends (plural masculine)
- Su colegio = their school (singular masculine)
- Nuestros libros = our books (plural masculine)
- Tus zapatos = your shoes (plural masculine)
Notice how the possessive adjective changes to match whether the owned item is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.
Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns replace nouns entirely and show ownership. These are more complex than possessive adjectives because they must agree with the noun they are replacing and come in both masculine and feminine forms.
Unlike possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns must agree with the noun they are replacing. They also require the definite article (el, la, los, las) before them.
Singular possessive pronouns
| English | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| mine | el mío | la mía |
| yours (informal) | el tuyo | la tuya |
| his/hers/its | el suyo | la suya |
| ours | el nuestro | la nuestra |
| yours (formal/plural) | el vuestro | la vuestra |
| theirs | el suyo | la suya |
Plural possessive pronouns
| English | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| mine | los míos | las mías |
| yours (informal) | los tuyos | las tuyas |
| his/hers/its | los suyos | las suyas |
| ours | los nuestros | las nuestras |
| yours (formal/plural) | los vuestros | las vuestras |
| theirs | los suyos | las suyas |
Worked Example: Possessive Pronoun Agreement
Su casa es más moderna que la nuestra = Their house is more modern than ours
Here, la nuestra (ours) is feminine singular because it refers to "casa" (house), which is feminine.
Prepositional pronouns
Prepositional pronouns are special forms used after prepositions like para (for), por (for), sin (without), and a (to). These have unique forms that differ from regular subject pronouns.
Prepositional pronouns table
| Prepositions | Pronoun forms |
|---|---|
| para = for | mí = me |
| por = for | ti = you |
| sin = without | él = him |
| a = to | ella = her |
Special combinations with "con" (with)
The preposition con (with) creates special contractions:
- con + mí = conmigo (with me)
- con + ti = contigo (with you)
These are irregular combinations that must be memorised.
Worked Example: Prepositional Pronouns in Use
- Esta chaqueta es para ti = This jacket is for you
- Salgo contigo = I'm going out with you
The relative pronoun "que"
The word que means "which", "that" or "who" and connects clauses together. This is one of the most frequently used connecting words in Spanish.
Critical Rule: "Que" Cannot Be Omitted
In Spanish, you must always include que, even when you might leave out "that" in English. This is a major difference between English and Spanish sentence structure.
Worked Example: Using "Que" in Sentences
- El profesor que enseña francés = The teacher who teaches French
- El libro que lee es español = The book (that/which) he is reading is Spanish
Notice how que cannot be omitted in Spanish, unlike in English where we might say "The book he is reading".
Practice exercise
Practice Exercise: Choosing Correct Forms
Circle the correct form each time. Then translate into English:
Mis/Mi padrastro se llama Omar. Su/Sus hijas son mis hermanastras. Mi/Mis hermanastra, que/por se llama Sara, tiene un novio, Nadim. Su/Sus novio es mayor que el mío/la mía. Salgo con él/ella desde hace seis años. Sara sale con el suyo/las suyas desde hace un mes.
Answer:
- Mi padrastro se llama Omar. Sus hijas son mis hermanastras. Mi hermanastra, que se llama Sara, tiene un novio, Nadim. Su novio es mayor que el mío. Salgo con él desde hace seis años. Sara sale con el suyo desde hace un mes.
Translation: My stepfather is called Omar. His daughters are my stepsisters. My stepsister, who is called Sara, has a boyfriend, Nadim. Her boyfriend is older than mine. I've been going out with him for six years. Sara has been going out with hers for a month.
Key Points to Remember:
- Possessive adjectives agree with the noun being described, not the owner (mi, tu, su, etc.)
- Possessive pronouns replace nouns and agree with what they replace (el mío, la tuya, etc.)
- Prepositional pronouns are used after prepositions, with special forms mí/ti
- Con + mí = conmigo and con + ti = contigo
- Que (that/which/who) must always be included in Spanish, even when omitted in English