Italian grammar
Possessives
Say my, your, his and mine in Italian. Possessives match the thing owned, usually come with the article, and drop it with most family members.
Possessives say who owns something: my, your, his, our, their. In Italian they work a little differently from English. They usually come with the article (il mio libro, literally "the my book"), they match the thing owned rather than the owner, and the same word means both "my" and "mine".
The Forms
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| my, mine | il mio | la mia | i miei | le mie |
| your, yours (informal) | il tuo | la tua | i tuoi | le tue |
| his, her, its, hers | il suo | la sua | i suoi | le sue |
| your, yours (formal) | il Suo | la Sua | i Suoi | le Sue |
| our, ours | il nostro | la nostra | i nostri | le nostre |
| your, yours (you all) | il vostro | la vostra | i vostri | le vostre |
| their, theirs | il loro | la loro | i loro | le loro |
Watch the irregular plurals miei, tuoi and suoi. Loro never changes: only its article does.
Matching the Thing Owned
The possessive agrees with the noun that follows, not with the owner. A man and a woman both say la mia casa (my house), because casa is feminine.
- il mio libro - my book
- la mia famiglia - my family
- i miei amici - my friends
- le mie scarpe - my shoes
This means suo can be "his" or "her": la sua macchina is "his car" or "her car", depending on who you’re talking about. The ending only tells you that macchina is feminine.
The formal Suo (for Lei) looks the same as "his" and "her". It is often capitalized in writing: Ecco il Suo caffè. - Here’s your coffee.
Family Members
With a singular family member, usually drop the article: mia madre (my mother), mio padre (my father), tuo fratello (your brother), sua sorella (his or her sister), nostro figlio (our son).
Keep the article in these cases:
- In the plural: i miei fratelli - my brothers, le mie sorelle - my sisters.
- With loro: il loro figlio - their son.
- With a describing word: la mia sorella più piccola - my younger sister.
- With the friendly words mamma and papà, people usually say la mia mamma and il mio papà.
My or Mine
Italian uses the same word for "my" and "mine". Before a noun, it means "my". Without a noun, it means "mine", and the article stays:
- Il tuo libro è qui, il mio è a casa. - Your book is here, mine is at home.
- Questa non è la tua chiave, è la mia. - This isn’t your key, it’s mine.
After essere, the article is usually dropped: Questo libro è mio. - This book is mine. È tuo? - Is it yours?
A Friend of Mine
Swap the article for un or una to say "a ... of mine": un mio amico - a friend of mine, una sua idea - an idea of his or hers.
With prepositions, the article joins the preposition as usual: nella mia stanza - in my room, dal mio dottore - at my doctor’s.
In a few common phrases the possessive goes after the noun, with no article: a casa mia - at my place, Mamma mia! - Oh my goodness!