The difference between 'his' and 'their'

Question

How do I indicate the difference between 'his' and 'their'? The online translator gives me the same translation for these two sentences: 'His house is very small' and 'Their house is very small'. The translation for both is: 'Su casa es muy peqeña.'

Put "su" into our dictionary and see what you get. :) - ian-hill, Aug 27, 2011

Answer 1

Definitely use context. If you are at the point where you can omit the subject's name entirely, you must have already established the subject somewhere.

You can't just start out a paragraph with "his house is very small" or "their house is very small" because the subject is ambiguous in any language!

If you don't want to say "his" or "their" and eliminate any confusion, you can also say, "La casa de José" (Jose's house) or "La casa de las chicas" (The girls' house).

Answer 2

Another way to eliminate confusion is to say:

La casa de él es muy pequeña. La casa de ellos/ellas (if all women) es muy pequeña.

Answer 3

Put "su" into our dictionary and see what you get.