Possessive adjectives - ADJECTIVES - Easy Learning Italian Grammar

Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)

ADJECTIVES

9. Possessive adjectives

What is a possessive adjective?

In English a possessive adjective is a word such as my, your, his that is used with a noun to show who it belongs to.

How to use possessive adjectives

1 The basics

Unlike English you usually put the definite article (il, la, i, le) in front of the possessive adjective.

As with all adjectives ending in –o, change the ending to:

–a for the feminine singular

–i for the masculine plural

–e for the feminine plural

il mio indirizzo

my address

la mia scuola

my school

i miei amici

my friends

le mie speranze

my hopes

For more information on the Definite article, see page 11.

You can also use the indefinite article in front of the possessive adjective in examples like:

una mia amica

a friend of mine

un suo studente

one of her students

You usually put possessive adjectives in front of the noun they describe.

The following table shows all the possessive adjectives:

Singular

Plural

Meaning

Masculine

Feminine

Masculine

Feminine

il mio

la mia

i miei

le mie

my

il tuo

la tua

i tuoi

le tue

your (belonging to someone you call tu)

il suo

la sua

i suoi

le sue

his; her; its; your (belonging to someone you call lei)

il nostro

la nostra

i nostri

le nostre

our

il vostro

la vostra

i vostri

le vostre

your (belonging to people you call voi)

il loro

la loro

i loro

le loro

their

For more information on How to say ‘you’ in Italian, see page 42.

Dove sono le mie chiavi?

Where are my keys?

Luca ha perso il suo portafoglio.

Luca has lost his wallet.

Ecco i nostri passaporti.

Here are our passports.

Qual è la vostra camera?

Which is your room?

Il tuo amico ti aspetta.

Your friend is waiting for you.

Tip

Possessive adjectives agree with the noun they go with, NOT with the person who is the owner.

Anna ha perso il suo cellulare.

Anna has lost her mobile phone.

Marco ha trovato la sua agenda.

Marco’s found his diary.

Le ragazze hanno i loro biglietti.

The girls have got their tickets.

Note that possessive adjectives aren’t normally used with parts of the body. You usually use il, la, and so on (the definite article) instead.

Mi sono fatto male alla gamba.

I’ve hurt my leg.

Si sta lavando i capelli.

She’s washing her hair.

For more information on the Definite article, see page 11.

Key points

Italian possessive adjectives agree with the nouns they describe.

Italian possessive adjectives are usually preceded by an article.

Possessive adjectives are not usually used with parts of the body.

2 How to use possessive adjectives when talking about relatives

To say my mother, your father, her husband, his wife and so on, use the possessive adjective without the definite article.

mia madre

my mother

tuo padre

Your father

suo marito

her husband

sua moglie

his wife

mia sorella

my sister

tuo fratello

Your brother

This applies to all family members in the singular, except for the words mamma (meaning mum) and babbo and papà (both meaning dad).

la mia mamma

my mum

Maria e il suo babbo

Maria and her dad

Note that if you describe a family member with an adjective, for example my dear wife, her younger sister, you DO use the definite article with the possessive.

il mio caro marito

my dear husband

il suo fratello maggiore

his older brother

You DO use the definite article with the possessive adjective when you’re referring to family members in the plural.

Sandro e i suoi fratelli

Sandro and his brothers

Laura e le sue cognate

Laura and her sisters-in-law

Key points

Use the possessive adjective without the definite article when talking about family members in the singular.

Use the possessive adjective with the definite article when talking about family members in the plural.