Unit 10: Structures with “hacer,” introduction to perfect tenses, translation considerations (part 1)
10.9 Emphatic Forms of Possessive Pronouns
All of the possessive pronouns already studied (mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro and their feminine and plural forms, as appropriate) also have corresponding emphatic or “long” forms, which have one of two meanings:
| Possessive Pronouns | Translation | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person sing. | mío | of mine, mine, my (emphatic) |
| 2nd person sing. | tuyo | of yours (fam.), yours, your (emphatic) |
| 3rd person sing. | suyo | of his, of hers, of its or yours (form.), his, hers, its, yours, her, your (emphatic) |
| 1st person plural | nuestro | of ours, ours, our (emphatic) |
| 2nd person plural | vuestro | of yours (fam. pl.), yours, your (emphatic) |
| 3rd person plural | suyo | of theirs, of yours (form. pl. [fam. pl. in L.A.]), their, yours, your(emphatic) |
All of these possessives have four forms each: masculine and feminine in both the singular and plural. Note that the first and second persons plural (nuestro, vuestro) are identical to the simple possessives already studied:
| Es nuestra casa | It’s our house. |
| Es una casa nuestra. | It’s a house of ours.
It’s our house. (emphatic) |
In English, emphasis is communicated via information and stress (when spoken) while in Spanish the use of the long form of the possessive plays this role:
| Esta es la casa nuestra, no la suya. | This is our house, not his. |
If, out of context, the above meaning is not clear, the form of suyo is replaced by the corresponding definite articles and a prepositional phrase:
| Esta es la casa nuestra, no la de él. | This is our house, not his. |
Study these further examples:
| El coche azul es mío y el blanco es suyo (el de ella). | The blue car is mine and the white one is hers. |
| Rosa no es amiga mía. | Rosa isn’t a friend of mine. |
| No son papeles suyos (de Ud.). | They’re not papers of yours. |
| ¿Todas estas llaves son tuyas? | Are all these your keys? (emphatic)
Are all these keys of yours? |
The minimal ambiguity of the last sentences is negligible and both translations are accurate renderings of the Spanish.
