Possessives are words that explain who “owns” or “possesses” things. In English they are commonly used and also follow a gender and number system, at least for third person (notice the words “his,” “her,” and “their”). The Portuguese possessive system does the same, with some intricacies. First, let's present the possessives for first and second persons:

First and Second Person Possessives in Portuguese

The definite articles in parentheses are optional in Brazilian Portuguese.

Although it might seem overwhelming at first, you will soon realize that it all depends on the thing “owned,” not the person who “owns” it, and the whole systems becomes much clearer. Since the form of the possessive depends on the noun that comes afterwards, it makes sense that there would be four forms, masculine and feminine, singular and plural, as in meu, meus, minha, minhas for “my.” Also notice that the table gives both the tu and the você forms which refer to the second person singular pronoun “you.” You might come across someone in Brazil asking you Como é teu nome? (What is your name?) and you can respond easily by starting with Meu nome é…!

Exercise: Who Owns It?

Now try your hand at an exercise. Translate the following noun phrases using the correct first and second person possessive pronouns. Check your answers in Appendix C.

• my pen:     ___________________________________

• your book:     ___________________________________

• my friends:     ___________________________________

• our parents:    ___________________________________

• your backpack:   ___________________________________

• our house:     ___________________________________

• your notebooks:   ___________________________________

• my sisters:     ___________________________________

More Possessive Pronouns

Now let's turn our attention to the remaining possessive pronouns. These are somewhat different because they refer to the third person (he, she, it, they), and follow more colloquial rules. Here is a summary:

Third Person Possessive Pronouns in Portuguese

Notice that the position of the noun with respect to the possessive pronoun changes, as compared to the first and second person. When you talk about the third person (he, she, it, they) possessives, you are literally saying “the book of his” (e.g., o livro dele) and not “his book.” Notice also that each “person” can own singular or plural things. Thus, we can say os livros dele, meaning “the books of his” or better yet “his books,” as well as o livro delas (their books). With time you will be able to tackle this complex system and become a master at it! Let's see how much of it you have already understood.

Exercise: Translation

Translate the following noun phrases using the correct third person possessive pronouns. Check your answers in Appendix C.

• Their (female) classes:

• His computer:    _________________________________

• Her pencil:     _________________________________

• Their (male) house:  _________________________________

• Her books:     _________________________________

• Their (female) car:   _________________________________

• His glasses:     _________________________________

• Her purse:     _________________________________