nuestros/nuestras

Question

Quick Spanish grammar question I'm hoping you can clarify for me.

With regard to the possessive adjective to use for nosotros/nosotras:

Am I correct in understanding that nuestra(s) would be used always when nosotras is implied or used? (ex. Nosotras tenemos nuestras fotos)? In other words, when this pronoun is feminine, the possesive adjective agrees with the subject (nosotras) and not the person/thing it is possessing (fotos)?

Does the same idea apply to nosotros when speaking of just a masculine group (ex. Nosotros tenemos nuestros Biblias)?

Also, am I correct in understanding that the possesive adjective, when nosotros is used in the sense of a mixed gender group, always agree with the thing being possessed (ex. Nosotros tenemos nuestras luces)'

Answer 1

thank you lazarus.
I knew this already, but I was referencing another grammar resource and their explanation led to some confusion and my questioning what I already knew to be correct. Thanks for clarifying.

lazarus1907 said:

No: the possessive agrees with the noun that follows: "(las) fotos".

Nuestro gato..

Nuestra gata.

Nuetros gatos

Nuestras gatas.

The gender or sex of the people who "own" these things have nothing to do with it. And the same goes for all other possessives, which behave the same way.

In English, of course, is the opposite, and this is also very confusing for Spanish people:

ÿl me enseñó su gato

ÿl me enseñó su gata

ÿl me enseñó sus gatos

ÿl me enseñó sus gatas

Ella me enseñó su gato

Ella me enseñó su gata

Ella me enseñó sus gatos

Ella me enseñó sus gatas

Ellos me enseñaron su gato

Ellos me enseñaron su gata

Ellos me enseñaron sus gatos

Ellos me enseñaron sus gatas

In English you use "his" or "her depending on the person who has something; in Spanish you change it according to what you have.

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Answer 2

samdie said:

Does "nosotras" even exist?

Of course: when several women speak, as a subject pronoun.

Answer 3

Does "nosotras" even exist'

Answer 4

No: the possessive agrees with the noun that follows: "(las) fotos".

Nuestro gato..
Nuestra gata.
Nuetros gatos
Nuestras gatas.

The gender or sex of the people who "own" these things have nothing to do with it. And the same goes for all other possessives, which behave the same way.

In English, of course, is the opposite, and this is also very confusing for Spanish people:

ÿl me enseñó su gato
ÿl me enseñó su gata
ÿl me enseñó sus gatos
ÿl me enseñó sus gatas

Ella me enseñó su gato
Ella me enseñó su gata
Ella me enseñó sus gatos
Ella me enseñó sus gatas

Ellos me enseñaron su gato
Ellos me enseñaron su gata
Ellos me enseñaron sus gatos
Ellos me enseñaron sus gatas

In English you use "his" or "her depending on the person who has something; in Spanish you change it according to what you have.