Contents · A2
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At level A1, the possessive (mi, tu, su) and the demonstrative (este, ese, aquel) are placed before the noun. Level A2 adds the stressed possessive, used after ser, after the noun or with the article, and the demonstrative used to place an event in time or in place of a noun.
The stressed possessive: es mío, el mío#
Formation
The stressed possessive agrees in gender and number with the thing owned, not with the owner.
| Owner | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| yo | mío, míos | mía, mías |
| tú | tuyo, tuyos | tuya, tuyas |
| él, ella, usted | suyo, suyos | suya, suyas |
| nosotros | nuestro, nuestros | nuestra, nuestras |
| vosotros | vuestro, vuestros | vuestra, vuestras |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | suyo, suyos | suya, suyas |
Use
The stressed possessive is used:
- after ser, to say whose a thing is: Esta maleta es mía (“this suitcase is mine”);
- with the article, in place of a noun already known: mi falda y la tuya (“my skirt and yours”);
- alone, in answer to ¿De quién es?: ¿De quién es este abrigo? — Mío.
Suyo can refer to él, ella, usted, ellos or ustedes, and so means “his”, “hers”, “yours” or “theirs”; to make it clear, de followed by a pronoun is used: Es de ella.
- ¿Son tuyos estos zapatos?Are these shoes yours?
- Tu casa es más grande que la nuestra.Your house is bigger than ours.
- ¿De quién es esta bicicleta? — Mía.Whose bike is this? — Mine.
- Mi bolso es negro y el tuyo es marrón.My bag is black and yours is brown.
Difference from English
“Mine”, “yours” and “ours” have one form in English; mío, tuyo and nuestro agree with the thing owned: a man says Esta maleta es mía, because maleta is feminine. After ser, “it's mine” is es mío, with no article; when there is a choice between things, the article is used: “my bag is black and yours is brown” is Mi bolso es negro y el tuyo es marrón. Mi, tu and su (“my”, “your”, “his”) are placed before a noun; standing alone, “mine” is always a form of mío: mío, mía, míos, mías. “A friend of mine” is un amigo mío, with the stressed possessive after the noun.
Common mistakes
Esta maleta es mi.→ Esta maleta es mía.Mi is placed before a noun; alone, the form is mía.Esta maleta es mío.→ Esta maleta es mía.The possessive agrees with the thing owned, maleta.Mi falda y la tu.→ Mi falda y la tuya.With the article, the stressed form is used.un amigo de mí→ un amigo mío“A friend of mine” is said with the stressed possessive after the noun.
Practise
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Demonstratives: esta tarde, aquel verano, ese no#
Use
The demonstrative also places an event in time: este, esta name the present moment (esta mañana, esta tarde, este fin de semana, este año); aquel, aquella (or ese, esa) refer to a moment in the distant past: En 2010 viví en Chile. Aquel año fue muy bonito. The demonstrative is also used alone, in place of a noun, with no written accent: ¿Es tu bolso? — No, ese no es. Prefiero esta. The neuter eso refers to what has just been said: Eso no es verdad.
- Esta tarde voy al dentista.This afternoon I'm going to the dentist's.
- Este fin de semana nos quedamos en casa.This weekend we're staying at home.
- De niño viví en Toledo; aquella casa era enorme.As a child I lived in Toledo; that house was huge.
- ¿Qué pastel quieres? — Ese, el de chocolate.Which cake would you like? — That one, the chocolate one.
Difference from English
English has two demonstratives, “this” and “that”; Spanish has three, and “that” for a time long past is usually aquel: “that year” in a story is aquel año. “This morning” and “this afternoon” are esta mañana, esta tarde, feminine because mañana and tarde are feminine. “This one” and “that one” are este and ese alone, with no word for “one”. “That's not true”, about what has just been said, is Eso no es verdad, with the neuter eso. The demonstrative esta has no written accent; está is a form of the verb estar.
Common mistakes
este mañana→ esta mañanaMañana is feminine.Prefiero este uno.→ Prefiero este.“This one” is este alone.¿Qué es ese?→ ¿Qué es eso?For a thing that is not named, the neuter eso is used.
In short
| Point | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| stressed possessive | agrees with the thing owned | mío, mía, míos, mías |
| after ser | whose the thing is | Es mío. |
| with the article | in place of the noun | el mío, la tuya |
| answer | alone | ¿De quién es? — Mía. |
| demonstrative and time | este: present; aquel: distant past | esta tarde, aquel año |
| demonstrative alone | no written accent | Ese no es. |
Practise
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