Introduction to Possessives

Possessive Determiners vs. Possessive Pronouns

In this unit, we’re going to learn about possessive determiners and possessive pronouns in Portuguese, which both serve the function of expressing possession or ownership of something.
In English, these are words like my, your, his, her, their, and our (possessive determiners) and mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, and ours (possessive pronouns).
Possessive determiners precede the noun they are modifying. They tell you to whom a specific item belongs. For example, in the sentence It is my cat, you can tell that the word my is a determiner because it needs to be followed by a noun (cat). “It is my” would not be a complete sentence.
Possessive pronouns replace the noun they are modifying. They convey ownership without telling what exactly is being owned. For example, in the sentence It is mine, you can tell that the word mine is a possessive pronoun because it can stand on its own in place of a noun.

Portuguese Possessives

In Portuguese, possessive pronouns and possessive determiners make use of the same words: meu, teu, seu, nosso, vosso, plus their associated feminine and plural forms. As you will see below, this means that there are multiple possible translations for each possessive word.
To choose the correct possessive determiners and possessive pronouns in Portuguese, you can start by
(1) choosing the form that goes with the person possessing something, and then
(2) modifying that word to match the gender and number of the noun being possessed.

Person	Determiner/Pronoun	English Translation
Eu	o meu / a minha / os meus / as minhas	my or mine
Tu	o teu / a tua / os teus / as tuas	your or yours (informal, singular)
Ele	o seu / a sua / os seus / as suas	his
Ela	o seu / a sua / os seus / as suas	her or hers
Você	o seu / a sua / os seus / as suas	your or yours (formal, singular)
Nós	o nosso / a nossa / os nossos / as nossas	our or ours
Vocês	o vosso / a vossa / os vossos / as vossas	your or yours (plural)
Eles / Elas	o seu / a sua / os seus / as suas	their or theirs

It sounds confusing at first, but it will make more sense once you see some examples. Let’s break it down by Person to see how we modify each possessive form to agree with the noun in gender and number.

Meu, Minha, Meus, Minhas (1st person singular)

Meu is used for masculine nouns, while minha is used for feminine nouns. Meus and minhas are the plural forms of meu and minha. All of them stand for “my” in English. Examples:
Foi o meu gato.That was my cat. Slow audio Play audio
A minha tia deu-me uma prenda.My aunt gave me a present. Slow audio Play audio
Os meus cachorrinhos são tão giros!My puppies are so cute! Slow audio Play audio
Viste as minhas chaves?Have you seen my keys? Slow audio Play audio

Teu, Tua, Teus, Tuas (2nd person singular, informal)

Teu is used for masculine nouns, while tua is used for feminine nouns. Teus and tuas are the plural forms of teu and tua. All of these words stand for “your” in English, when “your” refers to something or someone belonging to a single person.
You would choose this more informal form of “you” when you are speaking to someone you know well. When speaking to someone unfamiliar, or when trying to show respect or be more formal, you would use forms of você instead, which is conjugated in the 3rd person (see the next section). Examples of teu(s) and tua(s):
O teu primo é simpático.Your cousin is nice. Slow audio Play audio
Aquela senhora é a tua mãe?Is that lady your mother? Slow audio Play audio
Os teus tios vêm cá jantar.Your aunt and uncle are coming over for dinner. Slow audio Play audio
Pus as tuas meias a lavar.I've put your socks in the wash. Slow audio Play audio

Seu, Sua, Seus, Suas* (3rd person singular and você)

Seu is used with masculine nouns, while sua is used with feminine nouns. Seus and suas are the plural forms of seu and sua. Any of these could actually mean “his”, “her”, “your”(sing.,formal), or “their”, as you will read more about below, depending on the context. In the examples below, we have to assume that she, he, or you were just referenced in the conversation:
O seu sofá é muito confortável.Her sofa is very comfortable. Slow audio Play audio
A sua caldeirada de marisco é de morrer.His seafood stew is to die for. Slow audio Play audio
Os seus sapatos são feitos à mão.Her shoes are handmade. Slow audio Play audio
As suas encomendas foram enviadas para trás.Your packages were sent back. Slow audio Play audio

Nosso, Nossa, Nossos, Nossas (1st person plural)

Nosso is used for masculine nouns and nossa is used for feminine nouns. Nossos and nossas are the plural forms of nosso and nossa. All of them stand for “our” in English. Examples:
O nosso irmão está triste.Our brother is sad. Slow audio Play audio
A nossa casa é fria no inverno.Our house is cold in the winter. Slow audio Play audio
Os nossos carros precisam de ser reparados.Our cars need to be repaired. Slow audio Play audio
As nossas primas foram à Suécia.Our cousins went to Sweden. Slow audio Play audio

Vosso, Vossa, Vossos, Vossas (2nd person plural)

Vosso is used for masculine nouns and vossa is used for feminine nouns. Vossos and vossas are the plural forms of vosso and vossa. All of them stand for “your”(plural), when “your” refers to something belonging to more than one person. Examples:
Arrumem o vosso quarto!Clean your room! Slow audio Play audio
A vossa tia vai ao cinema.Your aunt is going to the cinema. Slow audio Play audio
Os vossos casacos estão na sala.Your jackets are in the living room. Slow audio Play audio
Pus tudo nas vossas malas.I put everything in your bags. Slow audio Play audio
In Portuguese, vosso, vossa, vossos, vossas, are usually used when addressing a group of people or someone who belongs to that group. It is also a (slightly) archaic but polite way of respectfully addressing someone.

Seu, Sua, Seus, Suas* (3rd person plural)

Ah, yes, these possessives again. You see, in Portuguese, third person plural (their) uses the same exact possessive pronouns as third person singular. Just as before, any of these could mean “his”, “her”, “your”(sing.,formal), or “their”. You would need extra context to know for sure. In the examples below, we’ll assume that “they” have just been referenced in the conversation:
O seu carro ficou mal estacionado.Their car wasn’t parked well. Slow audio Play audio
A sua casa é muito acolhedora.Their house is very cosy. Slow audio Play audio
Os seus filhos são adolescentes.Their children are teenagers. Slow audio Play audio
As suas primas eram de Aljezur.Their cousins were from Aljezur. Slow audio Play audio
*Confusing right? Don’t worry… Later in the Possessives unit, we will also look at another more common way of forming 3rd person possessives, which is much less ambiguous!

Definite Articles & Possessives

You may have noticed that sometimes a definite article (o, a, os, as) is used before a possessive (o meu, as minhas, etc.) and other times, the definite article is omitted (meu, minha, etc.). There are different guidelines depending on the role the possessive word plays in the sentence.
This is a lot to remember, so here’s a condensed overview first before we dive into the details. This overview won’t cover every exception, but when in doubt, you can get through most contexts by remembering:

• Possessive determiners usually require a definite article
• Possessive pronouns usually do not require a definite article

(except when they start a sentence)

• Use the definite article when you want to emphasize a specific thing out of a group of things (i.e. THIS one is my book, not that one). It’s almost as if you’re saying “this is the one that is mine” rather than just “this is mine”.
• You can drop the definite article if the emphasis is on the possession itself (i.e. This is MY book, not your book), or if there is no special emphasis. (This is quite common!)

When To Use Definite Articles with Possessives

Now we’ll get into the details a bit more to provide a full overview. Feel free to skip the rest of this Learning Note for now since this is a fairly minor detail for a beginner. You can always come back to it later.

• Possessive determiners in Portuguese generally precede the noun in a sentence, similar to the English words my, your, his, her, their, and our, as in o meu livro (my book), etc. Possessive determiners usually require a definite article (o, a, os, as), as in:
  • Perdi as minhas chaves.I lost my keys. Slow audio Play audio
• It’s important to use an article when the emphasis of the sentence is on distinguishing a specific item from a group of items:
  • Este é o seu livro. O meu livro ficou ali.This is your book. My book is over there. Slow audio Play audio

We’ll see some exceptions in the next section.

When You Can Drop the Definite Articles with Possessives

• Possessive pronouns in Portuguese replace a noun in a sentence, just like the words mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, and ours do in English, as in O livro é meu (The book is mine), etc. Possessive pronouns usually do not require a definite article (o, a, os, as), except at the start of sentences, e.g. O meu é azul (Mine is blue).
• An article is not required when the emphasis of the sentence is on the possession itself.
  • Os sapatos são meusThe shoes are mine Slow audio Play audio – I simply want to express that the shoes belong to me, rather than distinguish this particular pair of shoes from a group of shoes.
  • Aqueles casacos são teusThose coats are yours Slow audio Play audio
• An article is not required when the possessive modifies “this” or a number. The meaning in these types of sentences is similar to “This thing of mine” or “Four things of mine”.
  • Esta casa minha é antigaThis house (of) mine is old Slow audio Play audio
• An article is not required when a possessive determiner appears right after the noun. This is common in contexts that are more “undefined” (i.e. they are more general statements with no special emphasis):
  • Um amigo meu vai almoçar comigoMy friend is going to have lunch with me – i.e. A friend of mine, the particular person is not identified/emphasized
  • Aguardo notícias tuasI await your(sing.,inf.) news, I look forward to hearing from you(sing.,inf.) – Not specifying any particular type of news, just that I am looking forward to news from you
• It’s not required, but sometimes the article is omitted after the verb ser:
  • Eles são nossos vizinhosThey are our neighbours
  • As mentioned previously, here the determiner can appear either before or after the noun: Eles são vizinhos nossosThey are our neighbours, They are neighbours of ours
• Omit the article if the phrase has a vocative function. (In other words, when you are using the possessive phrase to speak directly to someone.)
  • Meu amigo, é preciso calma!My friend, stay calm! Slow audio Play audio
• Omit the article if the phrase functions as an appositive. (An appositive is a word or phrase that renames or identifies the initial noun. You usually see it between two commas.)
  • Pedro, seu irmão, chamou-o.Pedro, his brother, called him. Slow audio Play audio
• In contrast to European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese often omits definite articles in other situations as well.

Examples

Let’s look at a few more examples to help you understand how to use possessive pronouns and determiners in Portuguese.

• Example Set 1

• • Eles são meus filhosThey are my children Slow audio Play audio
    • Use meus because filhos is masculine, plural.
    • No definite article because you’re simply stating that these people are children of yours, with no special emphasis. It’s possible that you have more children aside from the ones you’re talking about at the moment.

• • Eles são os meus filhosTHEY are my children
    • Include the definite article here because you’re stressing that these particular kids are your children. Maybe you’ve talked about them before and finally have a chance to introduce them, or maybe there are more children around and you want to clearly identify which ones are yours. With this wording, you may also be implying that these are all the children you have.

• Example Set 2
  • Fui almoçar com a minha famíliaI went to lunch with my family
    • Use minha because família is feminine, singular
    • Include the definite article because you want to emphasize that it’s your immediate family, i.e. you’re referring to a specific set of people.
  • Fui almoçar com familiares meusI went to lunch with my relatives
    • Use meus because familiares is masculine, plural
    •  No definite article because there’s no special emphasis. It’s just generally some relatives of mine, and could be anyone, not just a certain subset of family members.
• Example Set 3
  • Esta casa é minhaThis house is MINE Slow audio Play audio
    • Use minha because casa is singular, feminine.
    • The focus is on the fact that I own the house, not you or somebody else. The definite article is not required here.
  • Esta casa é a minhaTHIS house is mine Slow audio Play audio
    • The focus here is on distinguishing a particular house from the others. The definite article is used here to show that along this street of many houses, this particular one is mine.

Learning More

We’ll cover each of these possessives in more detail throughout this unit and let you practice in the intervening lessons. Just to give you an preview of what’s to come, here are the topics we’ll cover:

• 1st and 2nd Person Possessives
• 3rd Person Possessives: Seu, Sua, etc
• 3rd Person Possessives: Dele, Dela, etc
• When to Use Dele/Dela vs. Seu/Sua