Possessive adjectives and pronouns, relative and interrogative pronouns

Unit 18 (Unidad 18)
Possessive adjectives and pronouns,
relative and interrogative pronouns
(Los adjetivos y pronombres
posesivos, los pronombres relativos e
interrogativos)
Level 1
1.1 Possessive adjectives (Adjetivos posesivos)
1.2 Possessive pronouns (Pronombres posesivos)
1.3 Variation on possessive pronouns (Variaci
´
on sobre pronombres posesivos)
1.4 Relative pronouns (Pronombres relativos)
1.5 Interrogative pronouns (Pronombres interrogativos)
1.1 Possessive adjectives
i Possessive adjectives describe nouns and indicate possession, as in the following cases:
Sing: mi tu su
Plur: mis tus sus

my

your

her/his/your/their/its
Sing: nuestro/a vuestro/a
Plur: nuestros/as vuestros/as

our

your
ii Mi, tu and su distinguish number only but nuestro and vuestro distinguish both

number and gender. Vuestro and its variants are not used in Spanish America. Su and
sus replace them. These possessive adjectives agree with the thing possessed, not the
possessor. This can be confusing at the beginning.
Examples
mi libro my book tu cuaderno your exercise book
mis libros my books tus cuadernos your exercise books
mi casa my house tu silla your chair
mis casas my houses tus sillas your chairs
su peso your/his/her/its/their weight
sus pesos your/his/her/its/their weights
nuestro hijo our son vuestro hijo your son
nuestros hijos our sons/children vuestros hijos your sons/children
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18 Possessive/relative/interrogative pronouns
nuestra hija our daughter vuestra hija your daughter
nuestras hijas our daughters vuestras hijas your daughters
1.2 Possessive pronouns
i Possessive pronouns take the place of a noun. They vary like adjectives ending in o
(see unit 21). They correspond to the English mine, yours, etc. Here is the complete list:
Singular Plural
m. m´ıo m´ıos
f. m´ıa m´ıas

mine
m. tuyo tuyos
f. tuya tuyas

yours
m. suyo suyos
f. suya suyas


hers / his / its / yours (for Ud. and Uds.)/theirs
m. nuestro nuestros
f. nuestra nuestras

ours
m. vuestro vuestros
f. vuestra vuestras

yours (for vosotros/as)
ii Vuestro and its variants are not used in Spanish America. They are all replaced by
suyo, etc., which correspond to Uds.
Examples
El carro (M)esm´ıo The car is mine
La casa es m´ıa The house is mine
Los bol´ıgrafos son m´ıos The (ball-point) pens are mine
Las computadoras (M) son m´ıas The computers are mine
El libro es tuyo The book is yours
La silla es tuya Thechair is yours
Los cepillos son tuyos The brushes are yours
Las pelotas son tuyas The balls are yours
iii Suyo, etc. / nuestro and vuestro are used in the same way. Examples for use of suyo
corresponding to Uds., etc., in Mexico
Este changarro es suyo This store/shop is yours (i.e. speaking to
more than one person)
Los boletos (M) son suyos The tickets are yours
Estas chamarras (M) son suyas These jackets are yours
1.3 Variation on possessive pronouns
i There are a number of variations on this pattern. The possessive pronoun acts
commonly as an adjective when it follows the noun. It has the value of a(

)ofmine /
of yours, etc.
un amigo m´ıo a friend of mine una casa m´ıa a house of mine
una tarjeta suya a card of his/hers/yours/
theirs
un ordenador nuestro a computer of ours
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
ii The definite article is used when the verb is either other than ser,orifthe possessive
pronoun is preceded by a preposition:
Hay tres casas aqu´ı. Me gusta m´as la m´ıa There are three houses here. I like mine
most
Aqu´ı tienes mi corbata. ¿D´onde est´alatuya? Here’s my tie. Where’s yours?
“¿Vamos en mi coche?” “Podemos ir en el m´ıo” “We’ll go in my car?” “We can go in mine”
Este l´apiz est´a estropeado. ¿Puedo escribir la carta
con el tuyo?
This pencil won’t work. Can I write the
letter with yours?
iii Where ambiguity could arise, suyo is often replaced by de and the appropriate
personal pronoun:
Los zapatos son de ´el y los calcetines son de ella The shoes are his and the socks are hers
La culpa no es m´ıa, sino de ti/Ud. Theblame is not mine, but yours
Los abanicos son de ellas, no de Uds. The fans are theirs, not yours
If suyo alone were used in all these cases, shoes and socks could lose their owners, guilt
would be difficult to apportion, and you could cool down (wrongly) at others’ expense.
1.4 Relative pronouns
i A relative pronoun connects two parts of a sentence which have something in
common. It belongs logically to the second of the two and relates back to a person or
thing mentioned in the first, which is called the antecedent, i.e. the thing that comes
before.

ii The most commonly used relative in Spanish is que which is a splendidly all-purpose
pronoun, applicable alike as subject or object to persons or things of either gender or
number. Que follows close after its antecedent, so that, although it is invariable in
form, we are never at a loss to see what it refers to. Here are some typical examples:
La mujer que plant´o aquel ´arbol es... Thewoman who planted that tree is...
El ´arbol que plantaron los hombres es . . . Thetree that the men planted is . . .
Los trabajadores que hemos contratado son . . . Theworkers whom we have taken on are...
El pasto (M) que corta el hombre es largo Thegrass that the man cuts is long
In the first case, que relates to the subject of the clause, while in the second, it relates to
the object. Do not be deceived by the position of los hombres in the second clause, for
it is still the subject of the clause. This inversion of subject and object is very commonly
associated with the use of que and is a characteristic of Spanish, and French and Italian
for that matter. Whereas, in English, the relative pronouns that, which, who and whom are
frequently omitted (The man I saw), this is not the case in Spanish.
iii Cuyo, and its variants, are used with the meaning of whose or of whom.
Theagreement in number and gender is with the person or thing possessed:
Examples
la chica aquella cuyo padre nos invit´oacenar that girl whose father invited us to have an
evening meal
el libro cuyas p´aginas est´an rotas the book the pages of which are torn
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18 Possessive/relative/interrogative pronouns
el culpable cuya direcci´on no ha sido revelada the guilty person whose address has not
been revealed
1.5 Interrogative pronouns
Spanish interrogative pronouns are as follows:
¿Qui´en? Who(m)? ¿Cu´al? Which? ¿Qu´e? What? ¿Cu´anto? How much?
(Notice the written accent for the interrogative form.)
They do vary in form for number and gender according to their endings.
Examples

¿Qui´en llama? Who calls?
¿Con qui´en vas al cine? With whom do you go to the movies? /
Who are you going to the movies with?
¿A qui´enes contratas? Who(m) (more than one person) are you
taking on?
¿Cu´al de los/las dos prefieres? Which of the two do you prefer?
¿Cu´ales son los/las mejores? Which are the best?
¿Qu´e planta(s) hay en el jard´ın? Which plant(s) is/are there in the yard/
garden?
¡Cu´anto cambia tu hermana! How much your sister changes!
¡Cu´anto sabe! How much she knows!
Exercises
Level 1
i Complete the following sentences with the correct possessive adjective as in the
example
Leo ( ) libro (yo = mi) > Leo mi libro
a Compro (
) peri´odico (yo)
b Uso (
) tel´efono (t´u)
c Escribe (
)novela (´el)
d Estudian (
) lecciones (ellas)
e Tocamos (
) piano (vosotros)
f Buscan (
) llave (yo)
g Comes (
) cena (t´u)

h Beben (
) coca cola (yo)
i Comen (
) helados (nosotros)
j No fum´ais (
) cigarrillos (ellos)
k Reciben (
)regalo (yo)
l Manda (
) carta (nosotros)
ii Answer the questions as in the example
¿De qui´en es el libro? > Es m´ıo
a ¿De qui´en es el peri´odico? d ¿De qui´en son las tarjetas?
b ¿De qui´en son las plumas (M)? e ¿De qui´en son los carros (M)?
c ¿De qui´en es la cartera? f ¿De qui´en son las casas?
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
iii Complete the sentences as in the example (there may be various possibilities):
Pontumaleta en el armario y ( ) sobre la cama > ...ylam´ıa/suya sobre la cama
a Mi trabajo es dif´ıcil y (
)esf´acil
b Tus deberes son complicados y (
) son complicados tambi´en
c Nuestras flores son bonitas y (
) est´an marchitas
d Nuestra casa es chica (M) pero (
)esgrande
e Vuestros coches son caros pero (
) son baratos
f Sus sillas son pesadas pero (

) son ligeras
iv Complete as in the example
Leo mi libro ahora y ( )m´as tarde > Leo mi libro ahora y el tuyo m´as tarde
a Escribo mi carta ahora y (
) esta tarde
b Conduzco mi coche ahora y (
) esta noche
c Hago mi trabajo ahora y (
) cuanto antes
v Make a sentence from the two sentences, joining them with the relative pronoun
que. See the example
Leo el libro. Me das el libro. > Leo el libro que me das
a Hago el trabajo. Me dejas el trabajo
b Ve o los programas. Ves los programas
c Preparo la cena. Comes la cena
d Comen la cena. Preparas la cena
e Pintas las casas. Compro las casas
vi The following words are all muddled. Place them in their correct order. The
important word is the relative pronoun que
a guapa la es que mujer canta
b listo que chico alto es el es
c es la blanca mesa que vieja es
d tienes jard´ın es que el grande
e que peque˜na es ciudad la est´a cerca
f concurrida calle grande la es que est´a
g viejas son gafas que las uso
vii Fill in the blank spaces as in the examples
¿( )esUd.? > ¿Qui´en es Ud.?
¿(
)prefieres? > ¿Qu´eprefieres?

a¿(
) haces? e ¿( ) llama?
b¿(
)delos dos prefieres? f ¿( ) son las flores que compras?
c¿(
) viene esta tarde? g ¿( ) escribes?
d¿(
) cuesta?
viii Class activity
Objective –touse the full range of possessive adjectives
Method –two class members address each other. This is then followed by the whole
class repeating the appropriate possessive adjective for them (nuestro), and then addressing
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18 Possessive/relative/interrogative pronouns
the first two. Member A says “It’s my hat.” Member B says “It’s your hat.”The class then
says: “It’s our hat.”The class also says: “It’s your/his/her/their hat.”
Examples
A: Es mi carro
B: Es tu carro
La clase: Es nuestro carro
La clase: Es su carro (his/her/their/your)
A: Es mi casa
B: Es tu casa
La clase: Es nuestra casa
La clase: Es su casa
A: Es mi canci´on
B: Es tu canci´on
La clase: Es nuestra canci´on
La clase: Es su canci´on
Yo u can put all the above nouns in the plural:

Son mis carros / son tus carros / son vuestros carros / son sus carros
Son mis sillas / son tus sillas / son vuestras sillas / son sus sillas
Use the following nouns: computadora (M), ordenador, mesa, bicicleta, peri´odico,
guitarra, piano, flauta, plato, taza, vestido, chamarra (M), chaqueta, zapato, corbata
The smart ones among you can clarify what is meant by su.Soyou could
add, for example: su casa de ellos / de Uds. / de ella / de ´el
Level 2
2.1 Further treatment of possessive pronouns (M
´
as detalles sobre los pronombres
posesivos)
2.2 Further treatment of relative pronouns (M
´
as detalles sobre los pronombres
relativos)
2.3 Use of lo que (Uso de lo que)
2.4 Use of Qu ´e in exclamations (Uso de Qu ´e con exclamaciones)
2.1 Further treatment of possessive pronouns
i The possessive pronoun is placed after the noun for sake of emphasis, in spirited
language, in contrast, or for rhetorical effect. The noun is regularly accompanied by
the definite article.
Ejemplos
el derecho m´ıo my right la influencia suya his/her/their influence
la pasi´on nuestra our passion seg´un el parecer according to our opinion
por la patria for our country nuestro
nuestra
ii The possessives of the first person singular and plural are often employed in direct
address.
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