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Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives: Own Them Now!


By Luciana Lage - Posted on 28 March 2009

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In Portuguese, the possessive pronouns and adejective (pronomes possessivos) vary in gender (masculine and feminine) and number (singular and plural). Sometimes they vary with the person who owns the items in question, and other times they agree with the object that is owned. I hope this lesson will make it really easy to learn how to use the possessive pronouns.

Here is a table with all the possessive pronouns:

PERSONAL PRONOUN

POSSESSIVE PRONOUN

Eu

Meu, minha, meus, minhas

Você

Seu, sua, seus, suas

Ele

Seu, sua, seus, suas

Dele

Ela

Seu, sua, seus, suas

Dela

Nós

Nosso, nossa, nossos, nossas

Vocês

Seu, sua, seus, suas

Eles

Seu, sua, seus, suas

Deles

Elas

Seu, sua, seus, suas

Delas


Use of MEU, SEU, NOSSO and their variations:

Here are the rules:

  • These pronouns agree in gender and number with the items that are owned
  • These pronouns are placed before the object that is owned

Examples:

  • Minha casa é bonita.
  • Meu carro é azul.
  • Minhas amigas são divertidas.
  • Meus amigos são bacanas.
 

Use of DELE, DELA, DELES, DELAS:

 The rules are the opposite of the ones above: 

  • These pronouns agree in gender and number with the person who “owns” the items
  • These pronouns are always placed after the object that is owned

 Examples:

  • A casa de Maria é bonita. Eu gosto da casa dela.
  • A casa de Paulo é bonita. Eu gosto da casa dele.
  • A casa de Ana e José é bonita. Eu gosto da casa deles.
 

 Observation:

 The use of the definite article is optional before the possessive pronoun.

   

Examples:

  • A nossa casa é linda.
  • Nossa casa é linda.

I hope this makes it easy for you to use the pronouns right :)

 Até a próxima!

 

(Many thanks to my students Blake and Johnathann, who inspired this post :-)

 
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