Italian possessive adjectives
How to say 'MY', 'YOUR', 'HIS', 'HER', 'THEIR', and 'OUR' in Italian
You can't disown that pile of poop in the park unless you know how to say "that's not my poop!". So let's look at Italian possessive adjectives, which will let you say if it's her poop, your poop, or their poop.
(Fair warning: Before you dive into this lesson, I recommend you take a look at my lesson on the definite article, a.k.a How to say "the", because this lesson needs a few "the" words as well.)
In Italian, the possessive adjective you changes according to two things:
- Whether you're talking about a single thing, or more than one thing (single vs plural)
- Whether you're talking about a masculine or feminine noun
Here are all your options:
Possessive adjectives
(Singular)
mio
tuo
suo
nostro
vostro
loro
(Singular)
mia
tua
sua
nostra
vostra
loro
(Plural)
miei
tuoi
suoi
nostri
vostri
loro
(Plural)
mie
tue
sue
nostre
vostre
loro
As you can see from the above Mildly Intimidating Table™, there are quite a few more possessive adjectives to master than the paltry eight we have in English.
Italian possessive adjectives agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and in number (singular/plural) with the noun they refer to.
For instance, "horse" is a masculine noun, (regardless of the gender of the actual horse in question) so it uses the masculine mio and miei.
Cars, however, are always feminine. So when you're talking about your car or cars, you use the feminine versions, mia and mie.
Did you notice those definite articles (words for "the) changing too? (il/i and la/le)
A possessive adjective (my, your, their) will usually come after the definite article (the). This is why I recommend you master the lesson on words for "the" first!
his / her / its
In English we say his to say something belongs to a man, and her to say it belongs to a woman.
In Italian there is no such distinction. Instead of "his house" or "her house" it's just "la sua casa" — regardless of whether the owner is a guy or a gal.
But it does change for the quantity.
Your (one person)
Let's see it in action for your. I'll show you for both a masculine noun (table — tavolo) and a feminine noun (chair — sedia).
Our
Our is also straightforward. I'll show you for both a masculine noun (bathroom — bagno) and a feminine noun (kitchen — cucina).
Your (more than one person)
And your (i.e., more than one person) is also pretty easy. I'll show you for both a masculine noun (glass — bicchiere) and a feminine noun (bottle — bottiglia).
Their
Most of these have been straightforward, but here comes the curve ball! The Italian word for "their" — "loro" doesn't change according to gender or quantity like all the others do. Check this out:
So how do you know if you're talking about a masculine/feminine/singular/plural thing? Just pay attention to the article in front of it ("il", "i", "la", "le").
More useful phrases
There's a lot to memorize in this lesson. Here are a few useful phrases to help cement your knowledge.
