ANTE TODO In contrast to English, Spanish has two types of possessive adjectives: the unstressed (or short) forms you learned in Lección 3 (mi, mis, tu, tus, su, sus, nuestro, nuestros, nuestra, nuestras, vuestro, vuestros, vuestra, vuestras, su, sus) and the stressed (or long) forms. The stressed possessive adjectives are used for emphasis or to express the English phrases of mine, of yours, of his, and so on.

Stressed possessive adjectives Masculine Feminine mío(s) mía(s) my; (of) mine tuyo(s) tuya(s) your; (of) yours (fam.) suyo(s) suya(s) your; (of) yours (form.); his; (of) his; her; (of) hers; its nuestro(s) nuestra(s) our; (of) ours vuestro(s) vuestra(s) your; (of) yours (form.); their; (of) theirs

¡ATENCIÓN! Used with un/una, these possessives are similar in meaning to the English expression of mine/yours/etc. Juancho es un amigo mío. Juancho is a friend of mine.

nuestros televisores  los televisores nuestros Stressed possessive adjectives must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. su impresora  la impresora suya her printer her printer nuestros televisores  los televisores nuestros our television sets our television sets

Stressed possessive adjectives are placed after the noun they modify, while unstressed possessive adjectives are placed before the noun. Son mis llaves. They are my keys. Son las llaves mías.

Me encantan unos discos compactos tuyos. A definite article, an indefinite article, or a demonstrative adjective usually precedes a noun modified by a stressed possessive adjective. Me encantan unos discos compactos tuyos. I love some of your CDs. Me encantan los discos compactos tuyos. I love your CDs. Me encantan estos discos compactos tuyos. I love these CDs of yours.

Since suyo, suya, suyos, and suyas have more than one meaning, you can avoid confusion by using the construction: [article] + [noun] + de + [subject pronoun]. el teclado suyo el teclado de él/ella his/her keyboard el teclado de usted your keyboard el teclado de ellos/ellas their keyboard el teclado de ustedes your keyboard

Possessive pronouns Possessive pronouns are used to replace a noun + [possessive adjective]. In Spanish, the possessive pronouns have the same forms as the stressed possessive adjectives, and they are preceded by a definite article. (Just drop out the noun.) la calculadora nuestra  la nuestra el fax tuyo  el tuyo los archivos suyos  los suyos

—Aquí está mi coche. ¿Dónde está el tuyo? A possessive pronoun agrees in number and gender with the noun it replaces. —Aquí está mi coche. ¿Dónde está el tuyo? —Here’s my car. Where is yours? —El mío está en el taller de mi hermano. —Mine is at my brother’s garage. —¿Tienes las revistas de Carlos? —Do you have Carlos’ magazines? —No, pero tengo las nuestras. —No, but I have ours.

¡ATENCIÓN! The definite articles (el/la/los/las) are usually omitted when a stressed possessive follows the verb ser. -Perdone, ¿pero es suya esta cámara? -No, no es mía. -Perdone, pero son suyos estos libros? -No, no son míos.

¡INTÉNTALO! Indica las formas tónicas (stressed) de estos adjetivos posesivos y los pronombres posesivos correspondientes. adjetivos pronombres 1. su videocasetera ______ ______ 2. mi televisor ______ ______ 3. nuestros discos compactos ______ ______ 4. tus calculadoras ______ ______ 5. su monitor ______ ______ 6. mis videos ______ ______ 7. nuestra impresora ______ ______ 8. tu estéreo ______ ______ 9. nuestro cederrón ______ ______ 10. mi computadora ______ ______