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Possessives agree with the item owned, not the owner

In English, possessive words like his and her tell us who owns the object. We use his for a man and her for a woman, regardless of what they own. In Portuguese, most possessives work in the exact opposite way.

Words like meu (my), nosso (our), and seu (your, his, her, their) change their gender and number to match the object being owned, completely ignoring who the owner is. This means that a man and a woman will both say a minha casa (my house) because the word casa is feminine.

Word list
delaA1 her agrees with the owner delaA1 hers agrees with the owner delasA1 their agrees with the owners delasA1 theirs agrees with the owners deleA1 his agrees with the owner deleA1 his agrees with the owner delesA1 their agrees with the owners delesA1 theirs agrees with the owners meumA1 my agrees with the item owned meumA1 mine agrees with the item owned nossomA1 our agrees with the item owned nossomA1 ours agrees with the item owned seumA1 your agrees with the item owned seumA1 yours agrees with the item owned seumA1 your agrees with the item owned seumA1 yours agrees with the item owned teumA1 your agrees with the item owned teumA1 yours agrees with the item owned vossomA1 your agrees with the item owned vossomA1 yours agrees with the item owned
Matching the object

When you use possessives like meu, teu, nosso, vosso, or seu, you must look at the noun that is possessed. If the object is feminine, the possessive must be feminine. If the object is plural, the possessive must be plural. The gender of the person speaking or owning the item does not matter at all.

O Paulo trouxe a sua irmã e os seus livros.
(Paulo brought his sister and his books.)
Nós vendemos o nosso carro.
(We sold our car.)
As chaves são tuas?
(Are the keys yours?)

Notice how the possessive takes the form of the object whether it comes before a noun or stands alone as a pronoun.

The third-person alternative

Because the word seu agrees with the object, a phrase like o seu carro could mean his car, her car, your car, or their car. When the context is not enough to make the meaning clear, Portuguese speakers use a helpful alternative that works just like English.

The words dele (his), dela (her), deles (their, masculine), and delas (their, feminine) identify the owner rather than the object. These words are created by combining the preposition de (of) with pronouns like ele or ela. Unlike seu, these forms are placed after the noun.

A Maria vendeu o carro dela.
(Maria sold her car.)
Os sapatos são deles.
(The shoes are theirs.)
A casa dela é maior do que a minha.
(Her house is bigger than mine.)
Summary

Most Portuguese possessives agree in gender and number with the item that is owned. However, third-person alternatives like dele and dela are placed after the noun and agree with the owner instead.