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Possessives agree with the thing owned

In English, possessive words usually tell us something about the owner. If a man owns a car, we say it is his car, and if a woman owns it, we say it is her car. In Spanish, possessives work in the opposite direction. Words like nuestro and suyo change to match the thing that is owned, completely ignoring the gender of the owner.

This means a male owner can use a feminine possessive, and a female owner can use a masculine possessive. The only thing that matters is the noun being possessed.

Word list
de élA1 his La casa es suya de ellasA1 theirs La casa es suya miA1 my mi casa; mis libros míomA1 mine La casa es mía nuestromA1 our nuestro libro; nuestra casa nuestromA1 ours Las llaves son nuestras suA1 your su casa; sus libros suA1 his su casa; sus libros suA1 your su casa; sus libros suA1 their su casa; sus libros suyomA1 yours La casa es suya suyomA1 hers El libro es suyo suyomA1 yours Las casas son suyas suyomA1 his La casa es suya suyomA1 theirs Los libros son suyos; La casa es suya tuA1 your tu casa; tus libros tuyomA1 yours Los libros son tuyos vuestromA1 your vuestro libro; vuestra casa vuestromA1 yours Las casas son vuestras míomA2 my amor mío; amiga mía
Number agreement only

The short words used before nouns, like mi, tu, and su, only change to match the number of the things owned. They do not change for gender. If one person owns multiple things, the possessive becomes plural.

Tu coche es muy rápido.
(Your car is very fast.)
Ella busca a sus gatos.
(She is looking for her cats.)

Notice that in the second example, sus is plural because there are multiple cats, even though there is only one owner.

Gender and number agreement

Other possessives, like nuestro, vuestro, and the longer forms like mío, tuyo, and suyo, must match the possessed noun in both gender and number.

This is where English speakers often trip up. When a man owns a house, the word for his is suya because the word for house is feminine. The possessive pronoun looks at the object, not the person holding the keys.

El coche es suyo y la bicicleta también es suya.
(The car is hers, and the bicycle is hers too.)
Nuestra profesora tiene nuestros libros.
(Our teacher has our books.)
Estos zapatos son míos.
(These shoes are mine.)
What if the owner is unclear?

Because words like su and suyo can mean his, hers, its, yours, or theirs, they can sometimes be confusing. If you say a house is suya, you know the house is feminine, but you do not know who owns it.

When context is not enough, Spanish speakers clarify the owner by using de followed by the person. Phrases like de él or de ella identify the owner directly. Unlike possessive adjectives and pronouns, these phrases do not change to agree with the possessed object.

Los pasaportes son de ella.
(The passports are hers.)
Summary

When choosing a Spanish possessive, look at the object being owned. The possessive word will always agree in number, and often in gender, with the noun it goes with or replaces, regardless of who the owner is.