Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns
mine El mío, la mía, los míos, las mías yours El tuyo, la tuya, los tuyos, las tuyas his, hers, yours El suyo, la suya, los suyos, las suyas theirs, (polite) ours El nuestro, la nuestra, los nuestros, las nuestras yours (familiar) El vuestro, la vuestra, los vuestros, las vuestras
The Possessive Pronoun must be preceded by the definite article except when it follows the verb "to be" ("Ser") and ownership is asserted.
Examples:
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Su compañía es más importante que la mía.
His firm is more important than mine.
V. ha acabado su trabajo, pero yo no he principiado el mío.
You have finished your work, but I have not started mine.
Estos títulos y acciones son míos.
These bonds and shares are mine (viz., belong to me).[2]
Possessive Adjectives Emphatic.
If any emphasis is placed on the possessive adjectives, the forms of the possessive pronouns are used, following the noun, as:
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Quiero la maleta mía y no la de su amigo.
I want my portmanteau, not your friend's.
"A friend of mine," "a customer of yours" will be translated "un amigo de los míos," "un cliente de los suyos," or also "un amigo mío," "un cliente suyo," without the preposition "de."
The Possessive Pronoun preceded by the neuter article lo denotes "property in general," as:
Lo mío mine--that which is mine Lo nuestro ours--that which belongs to us Lo suyo/lo propio one's own property Lo ajeno others' property
In addressing a person translate "my," etc., by "mío," etc., as:
Amigo mío: My friend.
Muy Señor mío (usual introduction to a Spanish letter).
But if the noun is qualified by an adjective, both "mi" and "mío" are
used ("mi" is more general), as Mi querido amigo (my dear friend).