Possessive Pronouns

Possessive determiners and pronouns are used to indicate ownership or a relationship. Their form must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they refer to, not with the person who possesses it.

Possessive Determiners

Possessive determiners (also called possessive adjectives) come before a noun. In Catalan, they are almost always preceded by a definite article ().

Four-Form Possessives

These have a different form for masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural.

(my)

El meu germà viu a l'Eixample.
My brother lives in Eixample.
La meva clau no funciona.
My key doesn't work.
On són els meus llibres?
Where are my books?
Les meves amigues són catalanes.
My friends (female) are Catalan.

(your - singular, informal)

El teu ordinador és molt ràpid.
Your computer is very fast.
La teva opinió és important.
Your opinion is important.
M'agraden els teus texans.
I like your jeans.
Les teves idees són bones.
Your ideas are good.

(his, her, its, their, your - singular, formal)

El seu gos es diu Taca.
His/Her/Their/Your dog is called Taca.
La seva empresa té la seu a Barcelona.
His/Her/Their/Your company is based in Barcelona.
Els seus fills van a la mateixa escola.
His/Her/Their/Your children go to the same school.
Les seves germanes treballen juntes.
His/Her/Their/Your sisters work together.

Two-Form Possessives

These possessives have a singular form that changes for gender and a plural form that is the same for both genders.

(our)

El nostre cotxe és elèctric.
Our car is electric.
La nostra casa és a prop del metro.
Our house is near the metro.
Els nostres amics vindran a sopar.
Our friends are coming for dinner.

(your - plural or formal)

El vostre professor parla molt de pressa.
Your teacher speaks very fast.
La vostra filla és molt alta.
Your daughter is very tall.
Heu portat els vostres passaports?
Have you brought your passports?

Clarifying Ambiguity with 'Seu'

The forms can be ambiguous as they can refer to multiple people (his, her, their, your). Context usually makes the meaning clear, but to be specific, you can use a construction with + pronoun after the noun.

He trobat les seves claus.
I've found his/her/their/your keys. (Ambiguous)
He trobat les claus d'ell.
I've found his keys. (Specific)
És la casa d'ella.
It's her house.
El cotxe d'ells és vermell.
Their (masculine/mixed group) car is red.

Possessive pronouns replace a noun that has already been mentioned to avoid repetition. They use the same forms as the determiners (, etc.) and are also preceded by a definite article.

Aquest no és el meu mòbil, el meu és negre.
This isn't my mobile phone, mine is black.
La teva jaqueta és bonica, però m'agrada més la seva.
Your jacket is nice, but I like his/hers more.
El nostre pis té balcó. I el vostre?
Our flat has a balcony. And yours?
Aquestes són les meves maletes, no les teves.
These are my suitcases, not yours.

Possessives After the Noun

When a possessive is placed after the verb (to be) to state ownership, the definite article is not used.

Aquest llibre és meu.
This book is mine.
La decisió és vostra.
The decision is yours.
Són amics nostres.
They are friends of ours.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Catalan course

93 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Possessive Pronouns” is about in bold:

Et presento a la meva amiga Anna. És estudiant.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Ja vull anar a casa meva.
I want to go home now.
Lesson 71
El meu pare li va comprar un regal a la meva mare.
My father bought a present for my mother.
Lesson 225

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