Possessives

1. Possessives Instructor Ángel Ruiz Blanco

2. Concept The possessives are used to indicate ownership or possession. The possessives also specify if the thing owned has one or more possessors The term possessive includes two important components: • Possessor • Possessed

3. The determiners Most possessives belong to the category of determiners. A general classification of determiners is: • Articles • Possessive determiners • Demonstrative determiners • Numeral determiners • Indefinite determiners

4. Types of possessives There are two types of possessives: • Possessive Adjectives • Short Form • Long form • Possessive Pronouns

5. Possessive adjectives (short form) Concept: Possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the thing possessed. Forms:

6. Possessive adjectives (short form) Clarifications: • Short possessive adjectives are always located before the noun that they modify • “Mi”, “tu” and “su” have the same form for the masculine and feminine forms • “Nuestro” and “vuestro” have different gender and number

7. Possessive adjectives (short form) The form “su” or “sus”: • The possessive adjective “su” can have severaldifferent meanings in English which can create confusion • “Su” can mean: his, her, your, its, or their • To avoid ambiguity the possessive adjective “su” can be substituted with the formula: • De + noun • Ex. El libro de María. • De + pronoun (él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, ustedes) • Ex. El libro de ella.

8. Possessive adjectives (short form): Special Rules • Possessives are not used when referring to parts of the body • Carlos se afeitólacara. • Possessives are not used when referring to clothing • María se quitólosguantes • However, the possessive adjective is used: • To clarify • If the part of the body is modified • If the part of the body or the object or clothing is the subject of the sentence

9. Possessive adjectives (long form) Concept: Remember that short or long form possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the thing possessed Forms:

10. Possessive adjectives (long form) Clarifications: • Long possessive adjectives are always located after the noun that they modify • “Mío”, “tuyo”, “suyo”, “nuestro”, and “vuestro” have different gender and number

11. Possessive adjectives (long form) • The forms “suyo” , “suya”, “suyos”, “suyas” can have several different meanings in English which can create confusion just as was the case with “su” • “suyo” , “suya”, “suyos”, “suyas” can mean: of his, of hers, of yours, of theirs • To avoid ambiguity these possessive adjectives can be substitute with the formula • De + noun • Un amigo de Pablo (A friend of Pablo) • De + pronoun (él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, ustedes) • Un amigo de él (A friend of his)

12. Possessive adjectives (long form)Special Rules • The noun conserves its article or determiner Ex. Un amigo tuyotellamóayer • The determiner does not appear in sentences with exclamations or interjections ¡Dios mío, qué calor! • You must use them when they are before the words: “un”, “algún (o), “ningún (o)”, “cualquier (a)”, “cada”, “mucho”, “poco”, “varios”, “más”, “menos”

13. Possessive Pronouns Concept: As with possessive adjectives, the possessive pronouns indicate ownership or possession but they substitute the noun instead of modify it. Forms: The possessive pronouns use the same forms asthe possessive adjectives (long form) except that they place the definite articles (el, la, los, las) in front of the possessive

14. Possessive Gold Rule The possessives agree in number and gender with what is owned or possessed, NOT with the possessor.