[SPEAKING SPANISH] Possessive adjectives. These tell you whose they are. To whom things belong. For example, if we have my car, it would be [SPANISH]. When I'm describing your car, I would say [SPANISH]. My house is your house. [SPEAKING SPANISH] My friend is [SPANISH]. But the plural form is [SPANISH]. Because [SPANISH] is an adjective, it must take on the plural form [SPANISH] to describe something that is plural like [SPANISH].
[SPANISH] does not imply that I am more than one person. Instead, it simply illustrates that I have more than one friend. So the possessive adjectives agree with the number of objects they describe, not with the people who own the objects. [SPANISH] is not a noun. It's an adjective describing the noun [SPANISH]. So [SPANISH] describes [SPANISH].
Notice that I'm not the subject here. My friends are the subject. The possessive adjectives that you need to know for your profession are gender neutral. You will not change the endings to agree with the gender of the object described. You will only need to add an S to describe more than one object for something plural. For example. [SPANISH] can mean his, her, your, or their. So it changes to [SPANISH] when it describes more than one object. [SPANISH] means my. [SPANISH] can mean his, her, your, or their.
You only need to add an S to make them plural. So my friend is [SPANISH]. My friends would be [SPANISH]. [SPEAKING SPANISH] Your friend is [SPANISH]. Your friends would be [SPANISH]. His prescription is [SPANISH]. How do you say his prescriptions plural? [SPEAKING SPANISH] If you want to state the name of the person to whom something belongs, in Spanish you have to do this the long way around. They do not have the apostrophe S like we do in English.
So to say Theresa's car, you can't say Teresa's [SPANISH]. You have to say the car of Teresa. [SPEAKING SPANISH] The word [SPANISH] means of. Sarah's medicine would be [SPANISH]. How would you say Juan's prescription? [SPEAKING SPANISH] The prescription of Juan. [SPEAKING SPANISH]
Expressing possession. Expressing possession takes a few more words in Spanish than it does in English. This is because they do not have an apostrophe S. So I cannot say Teresa's [SPANISH]. I have to say [SPANISH]. Literally the car of Teresa. The long way around, if you will. And this is the exact order you will need to use. Use a definite article like [SPANISH], [SPANISH], [SPANISH], or [SPANISH]. Followed by the noun, the thing that is owned, like [SPANISH]. Then the word [SPANISH]. [SPANISH] means of. And finally, the owner. Whether that's a person's name or a pronoun that refers back to that person.
So using that formula, how would I say Maria's computer? [SPEAKING SPANISH] This difference in order often causes English speakers to question the use of the apostrophe S in our own language. So what exactly does the apostrophe S stand for? Well, you probably noticed it in contractions like cannot is can't and would not is wouldn't. All the other contractions you'll notice have the apostrophe.
So why is it also used in possession? Well, the apostrophe replaces something. Think about contractions. Cannot, can't. The letters N and O are missing. Right? So the apostrophe takes their place. Now it doesn't appear that anything is missing with Harry's car. After all, it looks like a letter's being added, not taken away. So it doesn't make sense at first glance.
However, there is a very good reason. Now, this is a greatly simplified explanation to save you time. But once upon a time in Old English, there was a different form of a word used to express possession than the form that was used when the word was the subject of the sentence. So the old word for man was spelled M-A-N-N-E when it was used as a subject. As in, the manne is tall. However, it was spelled M-A-N-N-E-S when it was being used as a possessive. As in, the mannes son is tall.
So in the second sentence, the son is the subject of the sentence. Mannes is possessive. Whose son? The mannes. Over time, they dropped the E in man, and so they used the apostrophe S when using it in the possessive to indicate that there was a letter missing. So that apostrophe actually does replace a missing letter. So there's your trivia for the day. The most important point to remember is that the apostrophe S doesn't exist in Spanish because in Spanish there was no letter to omit. I hope you enjoyed this professor's lesson. [SPEAKING SPANISH]
Let's practice. This time, you're going to make nouns and adjectives plural. Try this first one. [SPEAKING SPANISH] That would be [SPANISH]. If it ends in a vowel, just at an S. If it ends in a consonant, you have to add E-S to make a noun or adjective plural.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Possessive adjectives come before nouns. They let us know who owns the object.
EXAMPLE
"Mi amigo" means "my friend."1a. Rules of Agreement
Possessive adjectives agree with the objects that they describe, not with the people that own the objects.
EXAMPLE
"Mis amigos" means "my friends."The word "mis" does not imply that I am more than one person; instead, it states that I have more than one friend.
The possessive adjectives that you will need to know for your profession are gender neutral; you will not change the endings to agree with the gender of the object described. You will only need to add an "s" to describe more than one object.
EXAMPLE
"Su" can mean "his," her," "your," or "their." It changes to "sus" to describe more than one object.The chart below presents further examples of how the possessive adjective only changes when it becomes plural; it does not change when the gender of the noun changes.
Spanish Adjective and Noun | Number | Gender | English Translation |
---|---|---|---|
mi amigo | singular | masculine | my male friend |
mi amiga | singular | feminine | my female friend |
su amigo | singular | masculine | his/her/your/their male friend |
su amiga | singular | feminine | his/her/your/their female friend |
mis amigos | plural | masculine | my male friends |
mis amigas | plural | feminine | my female friends |
sus amigos | plural | masculine | his/her/your/their male friends |
sus amigas | plural | feminine | his/her/your/their female friends |
1b. Stating Names
If you want to state the name of the person to whom something belongs, you must state possession "the long way around." In English, we use the "'s" as a short-cut. In Spanish, there is no such thing as an "apostrophe-s."
EXAMPLE
To say "Teresa's car," you must say "el carro de Teresa" (the car of Teresa). "Sara's medicine" would be "la medicina de Sara" (the medicine of Sara).If you are struggling with a concept or terminology in the course, you may contact PharmacySpanishSupport@capella.edu for assistance.
If you are having technical issues, please contact learningcoach@sophia.org.
Source: This content has been adapted from "Pharmacy Spanish" by Stephanie Langston.