Mi, tu, su — and este, ese, aquel
Spanish possessives agree with the thing possessed: mis hermanas, not "my-plural". Su covers his, her, your formal and their, so Spanish adds de él or de ella when it matters. Demonstratives have three distances — este here, ese there, aquel over there.
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
Possessives agree with the thing, not the owner
This is the one idea that makes them easy, and it is the opposite of what an English speaker expects.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| my | mi | mis |
| your (tú) | tu | tus |
| his / her / your formal / their | su | sus |
| our | nuestro / nuestra | nuestros / nuestras |
- mi hermano / mis hermanos — the s is there because there are several brothers, not because of me.
- su casa — one house, whoever owns it.
- sus casas — several houses.
Only nuestro changes for gender as well: nuestra casa, nuestro carro.
No apostrophe-s exists. “Juan’s house” is la casa de Juan. That construction with de is how all possession works when you name the owner.
Su is ambiguous, so Spanish fixes it
Su casa can mean his, her, your (formal) or their house. When it matters, add the owner:
- la casa de él — his house
- la casa de ella — her house
- la casa de ellos — their house
- su casa — your house, formal, if that is who you are talking to
This is not optional politeness, it is how the language disambiguates. You will hear el carro de él far more than a textbook implies.
Body parts and clothes take the article
Spanish uses el/la where English uses a possessive, because it is obvious whose they are.
- Me duele la cabeza. — my head hurts.
- Me lavo las manos. — I wash my hands.
- Se puso el abrigo. — he put on his coat.
Me duele mi cabeza is understood and marks you out immediately. The reflexive already says whose it is — see reflexive verbs.
The long forms
mío, tuyo, suyo, nuestro go after the noun or stand alone.
- un amigo mío — a friend of mine.
- ¿Es tuyo? — is it yours?
- El mío es azul. — mine is blue.
- Dios mío.
These agree fully: mía, míos, mías.
Demonstratives: three distances
English has two, this and that. Spanish has three, and the third is a real distinction rather than a formality.
| Distance | Masculine | Feminine | Rough English |
|---|---|---|---|
| here, by me | este / estos | esta / estas | this / these |
| there, by you | ese / esos | esa / esas | that / those |
| over there, by neither | aquel / aquellos | aquella / aquellas | that one over there |
- Este libro — the one in my hand.
- Ese libro — the one near you.
- Aquel libro — the one across the room.
Aquel is genuinely used, and it also does distance in time: en aquella época — back in those days.
Neuter forms for something unnamed or an idea: esto, eso, aquello.
- ¿Qué es esto? — what is this? You do not know what it is, so it has no gender yet.
- Eso no es cierto. — that’s not true.
- Eso es. — exactly. Very common as agreement.
Those three never change, and ¿qué es esto? is probably the single most useful question on this page.
Accents, briefly
You may see éste, ése with accents in older writing. The Real Academia dropped the accent on demonstrative pronouns in 2010. Write them without.
The neuter forms esto, eso, aquello never took an accent at all.
In Peru
Este… as a filler, the way English uses “um”. Este… no sé.
Esa cosa / esa cuestión for a thing whose name escapes you — the local equivalent of “that thingy”.
Practise
- ___ hermanas (my)
- ___ casa es grande (our, feminine)
- ¿Es ___? (yours)
- ___ libro, acá en mi mano
- ¿Qué es ___? — you have no idea what it is
→ 1 mis · 2 nuestra · 3 tuyo · 4 este · 5 esto.
Next
→ Reflexive verbs and the daily routine
Topics Nouns and articlesAdjectives
Mi, tu, su — este, ese, aquel
Possessives agree with the thing owned, su means four things, and Spanish has three distances where English has two.
-
1“My brothers” — I have three of them.
Answer
mis hermanos — *Mis* — the s is there because there are several brothers, not because of me. Possessives agree with the thing owned, never with the owner.
-
2“Juan's house” is:
Answer
la casa de Juan — There is no apostrophe-s in Spanish. Naming the owner always goes through *de*: *la casa de Juan*, *el carro de mi hermana*.
-
3*Su casa* is ambiguous. To say specifically “her house”, Peruvians say:
Answer
la casa de ella — *Su* covers his, her, your formal and their, so Spanish disambiguates with *de él*, *de ella*, *de ellos*. You hear this far more than a textbook implies.
-
4“My head hurts.”
Answer
Me duele la cabeza. — Body parts take the article, not the possessive — the *me* already says whose head it is. *Me duele mi cabeza* is understood and marks you out at once.
-
5Someone hands you a phone. “Is it yours?”
Answer
¿Es tuyo? — *Tuyo* is the long form: it stands alone or goes after the noun. *Tu* only works in front of a noun — *tu celular*.
-
6The book is across the room, nowhere near either of you. You say:
Answer
aquel libro — Three distances: *este* by me, *ese* by you, *aquel* by neither. *Aquel* is genuinely used, and it also does distance in time — *en aquella época*.
-
7You point at something and have no idea what it is. You ask:
Answer
¿Qué es esto? — *Esto* is the neuter form, for something unnamed — it has no gender yet because you do not know what it is. The accent on *éste* was dropped in 2010.