How do we use possessive adjectives in spanish?
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1 Answer
This is a broad topic. Here are some references to get you started. If there is a specific point you don't understand, you can then ask it and we can try to help.
http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/23
http://spanish.about.com/od/adjectives/a/possessive_adjectives.htm
http://spanish.about.com/od/adjectives/a/long_form_possessive_adjectives.htm
http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/possadj.htm
And the one I will quote, as it is brief:
http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/adject.htm
6 Possessive adjectives can be divided into two groups: the non-stressed and the stressed forms.
A. The non-stressed possessives are only used in front of nouns. The forms are: mi(s), tu(s), su(s), nuestro(s), vuestro(s), su(s).They must agree in number (and in gender for nuestro and vuestro) with the noun, not the person or pronoun to which the refer: mis libros, nuestra madre. Remember that su(s) is ambiguous; su casa = your [usted] house, his house, her house, its house, your [ustedes] house, their [male and/or female] house.
A mi gato no le gustan tus perros. My cat doesn't like your dogs. Sus caballos arruinaron nuestras flores. Your [formal] / his / her / their horses ruined our flowers.
B. The stressed possessives are mío, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, vuestro, and suyo. They used after nouns or by themselves or can be used with articles as pronouns:
Ésa es la casa mía. That is my house. [Or: That's the house that belongs to me.] Esa casa es mía. That house is mine. Mi casa es más grande que la tuya. My house is larger than yours.
C. Note that the forms su and suyo are ambiguous and for clarity or emphasis sake may be replaced by the expressions de usted, de él, de ella, de ustedes, de ellas, and de ellos. For example:
La casa de él es roja, pero la de ella es blanca. His house is red, but hers is white. (Su casa es roja pero la suya es blanca.) (Virtually meaningless.)
