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Possessive Pronouns
These pronouns are used to show ownership. They are used to designate who the owner of a certain thing is. These pronouns can accompany, describe or substitute a noun.
The possessive pronouns have gender (feminine or masculine) and number (singular or plural). Generally those pronouns agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, not with the person that possesses. But there is a main exception for the possessive pronouns dele(s) / dela(s); they coincide in gender and number with the person.
Examples: In the follow examples the possessive pronouns agree with the thing possessed and are used before the noun.
- Meu pai – My father
- Seu pai – Your father
- Nosso pai – Our father
- Minha mãe – My mother
- Sua mãe – Your mother
- Nossa mãe – Our mother
These are the possessive pronouns in Portuguese:
|
Masculine
|
Feminine
|
English
|
| meu(s) |
minha(s) |
my/mine |
| seu(s) = teu(s) |
sua(s) = tua(s) |
your/yours |
| do senhor = seu(s) |
do senhor = seu(s) |
your/yours |
| da senhora = seu(s) |
da senhora = sua(s) |
your/yours |
| dele = seu(s) |
dele = sua(s) |
his/his/its |
| dela = seu(s) |
dele = sua(s) |
her/hers/its |
| da gente |
da gente |
our/ours |
| nosso(s) |
nossa(s) |
our/ours |
| seu(s) = de vocês |
sua(s) = de vocês |
your/yours |
| dele(s) = seu(s) |
dele = sua(s) |
their/theirs |
| dela(s) = seu(s) |
dele = sua(s) |
their/theirs |
Remark:
- If the thing possessed is in the plural structure, the pronoun gets an -s.
- The possessive pronouns seu /seus /sua / suas sometimes are used to refer to your (yours), his, her (hers) and their (theirs) origins ambiguity, because you don’t know which person refer the pronouns. The possessive pronouns dele/ deles / dela/ delas are used to evade ambiguity of the noun’s ownership. The correspondence among the pronouns is: his his - dele, her/hers - dela, their/theirs - deles, but for feminine group - delas. These pronouns coincide in gender and number with the person who owns the thing, because these possessive pronouns always refer to the person and not to the object.
- The possessive pronouns teu /teus /tua / tuas sometimes are used to refer to your and yours; in this case, they also agree in gender (feminine or masculine) and number (singular or plural) with the thing possessed.
- Teu tio – Your uncle
- Teu carro – Your car
- Tua tia – Your aunt
- Tua casa – Your house
- In Portuguese, parts of the body are generally used with the definite article, not with the possessive pronoun. Example: Ele quebrou o dente. (He broke his tooth.).
Example:
- Qual é o nome dele? (What is his name?)
- (O) meu livro é novo. E o seu? (My book is new. And yours?)
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