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Possessive agreement and definite articles

In English, possessive words tell us about the owner. If a book belongs to Marco, it is "his book". If it belongs to Maria, it is "her book". Italian possessives work quite differently. Words like mio, tuo, and suo change their endings to match the gender and number of the thing being owned, not the person who owns it.

Furthermore, Italian possessives are almost always preceded by a definite article like il or la, which is a major shift for English speakers.

Word list
loroA1 their ending never changes, always takes article: il loro, la loro loroA1 theirs ending never changes miomA1 my agrees with object: il mio libro, la mia casa miomA1 mine often without article after the verb to be: è mio nostromA1 our agrees with object: il nostro cane nostromA1 ours often without article after the verb to be suaA1 his agrees with feminine object regardless of owner suomA1 his agrees with masculine object regardless of owner suomA1 your formal polite your suomA1 yours formal polite yours suomA1 his often without article after the verb to be tuafA1 your agrees with feminine object: la tua casa tuomA1 your agrees with masculine object: il tuo libro tuomA1 yours often without article after the verb to be vostromA1 your agrees with object: la vostra città vostromA1 yours often without article after the verb to be propriomA2 own agrees with object: la propria vita
Matching the object

When you talk about something you own, the possessive must agree with that item. For example, suo translates to "his", "her", or "its". To say "his car" or "her car", you look at the word for car: macchina. Since macchina is feminine, you use sua regardless of who owns it.

Marco guida la sua macchina.
(Marco is driving his car.)

The exact same logic applies to mio, tuo, nostro, and vostro. If Marco and Maria are both reading a book, which is a masculine noun (libro), the possessive is masculine in both cases.

Marco legge il suo libro.
(Marco is reading his book.)
Maria legge il suo libro.
(Maria is reading her book.)
Adding the article

In English, you say "my dog" or "our house". In Italian, you literally say "the my dog" or "the our house". The definite article (il, la, i, or le) is required before the possessive in most situations.

Il nostro cane è molto grande.
(Our dog is very big.)
I vostri amici sono qui.
(Your friends are here.)

There is a major exception when talking about singular family members, such as "my father" or "your mother". In these cases, you drop the article entirely. You will learn about this specific family rule in a dedicated lesson.

Loro, proprio, and dropping the article

The word loro means "their" or "theirs". Unlike the other possessives, loro never changes its ending. However, the definite article before it still changes to match the noun.

I ragazzi mangiano la loro pizza.
(The boys are eating their pizza.)

Interestingly, while singular family members drop the article with words like mio or suo, loro always keeps the article. You say mio padre but il loro padre.

You might also encounter proprio, which means "own" or "one's own". It agrees with the noun just like regular possessives.

Ognuno ha la propria vita.
(Everyone has their own life.)

Finally, when a possessive comes after the verb "to be" to simply say something is "mine" or "yours", it is acting as a pronoun. In these cases, you usually drop the article.

Questa casa è mia.
(This house is mine.)
Summary

Italian possessives agree in gender and number with the thing being owned, not the owner. Always remember to put a definite article like il or la in front of them, unless you are using them after the verb "to be" or with a singular family member.