In this lesson, we will learn the possessive adjectives such as my, your, their, etc. We will also look at how the "apostrophe s" used in English to show possession is translated into Spanish. Finally, we will learn some common nouns for items around the house.
Vocabulary:
la carta - the letter (i.e. the letter you send in the mail)el espejo - the mirrorla cómoda - the chest of drawersel armario - the wardrobe or cupboard
el ropero - the wardrobe
la alfombra - the carpet or rugel sillón - the armchair
la mesita de noche - the nightstand
el lavabo - the washbasin (i.e. the sink in the bathroom)
el secador de pelo - the hair dryer
la escoba - the broomel inodoro - the toiletlas escaleras - the stairsel sofá - the sofala aspiradora - the vacuum cleaner
[SLIDE 1]
In this lesson, we will discuss possession.
First let's go through the possessive adjectives, which are equivalent to my, your, his, etc.
The first possessive adjective is:
mi. It's equivalent to "my" – it corresponds to the subject pronoun "yo"
tu is equivalent to "your" – it corresponds to the subject pronoun tú
Notice that the possessive adjective 'tu' does not have an accent. This distinguishes it from the subject pronoun 'tú'.
nuestro is equivalent to "our" – it corresponds to nosotros
su is for the rest of the cases.
It can mean "his", "her", "your", "their" or "yours". It corresponds to él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes
One thing to note is that just like a regular adjective, a possessive adjective must agree with the noun it describes. For nuestro, it has to agree in both number and gender. For the rest, they only have to agree in number.
So for example:
"Mi cama" would be "my bed." Now if cama becomes plural, the sentence would be:
Mis camas.
"Su carro" could be "your car", if you're using usted.
"Tus pantalones" would be "your pants."
And finally, looking at nuestro,
"Nuestro libro" would be "our book."
"Nuestras computadoras" would be "our computers."
Notice how cama was singular, so 'mi' is singular. 'Camas' is plural, so 'mis' is plural. 'Carro' is singular so 'su' is singular. 'Pantalones', plural, 'tus', plural. 'Libro', masculine singular, nuestro, masculine singular. Computadoras, plural feminine, nuestras, plural feminine.
[SLIDE 2]
In Spanish, there is no apostrophe 'S' to indicate possession. To say that something belongs to someone, you say that it is "of" them.
For example, "Tim's house" would be "la casa de Tim" – "de" means "of", and is the word used to indicate possession. This sentence literally translates into "the house of Tim."
Another example:
La computadora de Maria es muy cara. Maria's computer is very expensive. Or literally, the computer of Maria is very expensive.
El carro de él cuesta mucho. His car costs a lot. Note that technically, you could have said "su carro" to say "his car" – su carro cuesta mucho - but 'su' can mean his, hers, theirs, or yours, so you may choose to use "el carro de él", which is less ambiguous than "su carro."
It's also possible to use the verb "ser" with "de" to show ownership.
For example:
La casa grande es de Franco. The big house is Franco's.
Son de ellos los cuadernos blancos? Are the white notebooks theirs?
El carro es de ustedes. The car is yours, as in the car belongs to you all.