My, Your, This, That: Italian Possessives and Demonstratives
How Italian possessives take an article and agree with the noun, and how quello follows the same pattern as the article.
Possessive and demonstrative words are used constantly. Italian handles them with agreement and, for possessives, an article that English lacks.
Possessive adjectives
They agree with the thing owned, not with the owner:
| Owner | m. sing. | f. sing. | m. plural | f. plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| my | mio | mia | miei | mie |
| your (tu) | tuo | tua | tuoi | tue |
| his / her / your (Lei) | suo | sua | suoi | sue |
| our | nostro | nostra | nostri | nostre |
| your (voi) | vostro | vostra | vostri | vostre |
| their | loro | loro | loro | loro |
Loro never changes.
The article
The article goes before the possessive:
- il mio libro — my book
- la mia casa — my house
- i miei amici — my friends
- le tue chiavi — your keys
Exception: with singular family members, no article: mia madre, tuo fratello. Compare with the plural: i miei fratelli. With loro, the article stays: la loro madre.
His or her?
Suo means both "his" and "her", since it agrees with the noun, not the owner:
- Marco ama sua madre. — Marco loves his mother.
- Anna ama sua madre. — Anna loves her mother.
A friend of mine
With un, the possessive comes after and the article is dropped:
- un mio amico — a friend of mine
- una sua idea — an idea of his/hers
Demonstratives: questo and quello
Questo (this) is regular:
- questo libro, questa casa, questi libri, queste case
Quello (that) changes like the definite article:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine (il) | quel libro | quei libri |
| masculine (lo) | quello studente | quegli studenti |
| masculine (vowel) | quell'amico | quegli amici |
| feminine | quella casa | quelle case |
| feminine (vowel) | quell'amica | quelle amiche |
As pronouns
Without a noun, both take the full form:
- Questo è mio. — This is mine.
- Quello è tuo. — That one is yours.
- Preferisco questa. — I prefer this one.
Tips
- Match gender and number to the noun.
- Drop the article with singular family.
- Use the dictionary to check forms.
English Italian Dictionary
Offline English–Italian dictionary with noun gender and accents handled properly
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