1. La posesión en el español
Expressing Possession in Spanish

2. Possession in English
In English we use the contraction “ ’s ” or “ s’ ”to express that someone possesses or owns an object.
ex: That is Jessica’s diamond ring.
Occasionally we will express this idea in a longer form.
ex: Jessica is a friend of mine.

3. 's = de Possession in Spanish
In Spanish there is NO CONTRACTION to express possession!
You must not use “‘S ”to express ownership of an item!
Instead you will use the word “de” and the name of the person or persons who own the item.
's = de

4. Possession in Spanish the thing + "de" + owner
To say that someone or something belongs to someone or something else use the following formula:
Examples:
el baile de Señora Read Mrs. Read's dance
la abuela de Ana y Pablo Pablo and Ana's grandmother
la idea de los niños the kids' idea
la plaza de Madrid Madrid's plaza
Note that you must include the definite article in front of the thing possessed.
the thing + "de" + owner

5. Práctica Try these phrases on your own: Emily’s money
el dinero de Emily
the students’ books
los libros de los estudiantes
the class’s dog
el perro de la clase
Mexico’s flag
la bandera de México
Michael’s homework
la tarea de Miguel

6. Possessive Adjectives
Definition:
An adjective used with a noun (or
less commonly, a pronoun) to indicate possession, ownership or close relationship.
ex: my valentine
his book

7. Possession in English In English, these are the possessive adjectives:My
Your
His
Her
Its
Our
Their

8. Su/ sus Possession in Spanish
As we continue learning in Spanish class we will come to know all of the possessive adjectives in Spanish, but for now we will focus on two words that will help us express possession when talking about other people.
Su/ sus

9. “Su” and “sus” can mean a lot of things in Spanish including:
His
Her
Your (formal/ Ud.)
Their
Examples:
The smelly man’s sock. Su calcetín.
The supermodel’s shoes. Sus zapatos.
Your awesome Spanish class. Su clase de español asombroso.
Their mean brother. Su hermano antipático.

10. More Examples El sandwich de Paris. Or Su sandwich.
Paris necesita un sandwich.
Paris’s sandwich
could be written as:
El sandwich de Paris. Or
Su sandwich.

11. Agreement with Possessive Adjectives
The final thing you should know is that “su” does not depend on how many people own an item, but instead on whether what is owned is singular or plural.
Examples:
Their hat. Su sombrero.
His chocolates. Sus chocolates.
“It’s not who owns it, it’s what they own.”

12. Práctica The boy’s hat Maria’s pencils Arnold’s English Your papers
Romeo and Juliette’s kiss
Su sombrero.
Sus lápices.
Su inglés.
Sus papeles.
Su beso.
beso