Learn The Possessive Pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese

Hi everyone!

First of all, I'd like to apologize to my students of English because I haven't posted any English activities here in a long time. I promise the next post will be about English.

Since teaching Portuguese is something I have been doing for only a couple of years, there are many discoveries in the process and I can't wait to share them.

I was recently in Brazil in the state of Santa Catarina where lots of Argentinian people go to during the summer because Brazilian beaches are marvelous and it's not that far from Argentina. 
Anyways, I was talking to an Argentinian friend who is learning Portuguese and he said he had many questions he wished to ask me, but he didn't want to bother me on my vacation. I told him it was a pleasure to help him because teaching is my passion, so it doesn't feel like work.

His most difficult question was regarding the possessive pronouns. He didn't understand why we sometimes say "meu" and other times say "minha". I explained to him that in Portuguese the possessive pronouns usually agree with the object that is owned and I gave him a few examples:

Essa mochila é minha = This backpack is mine
Essa é a minha mochila = This is my backpack
Esse livro é meu = This book is mine
Esse é o meu livro = This is my book

Then, I told him that "mochila" is a feminine word, therefore we use the possessive pronoun in its feminine form - MINHA and that "livro" is a masculine word, so we use the possessive pronoun in its masculine form - MEU.

What I didn't tell him is that the possessive pronouns can also agree with the person who owns the object, so let me explain the whole story about the possessive pronouns in Portuguese!

1. They can agree with the person who owns the object.
2. They can agree with the object that is owned.

First, check out the table below to learn all the possesive pronouns.

Rule #1
The pronouns dele, dela, deles and delas are always used after the object that is owned and they agree with the with the person who owns the object.
Examples:

- Essa é a casa da minha mãe e do meu pai. Eu amo a casa deles. = That is my mother and my father's house. I love their house.
- Aquele é o carro da Cláudia. Eu gosta muito do carro dela. = That car is Claudia's car. I really like her car.
- Este é o filho do Marcelo. Ele é um menino muito legal. Todo mundo gosta do filho dele. = This is Marcelo's son. He is a very nice boy. Everybody likes his son.

Rule #2
All the other pronouns agree with the object that is owned.
Examples:

- Minha casa é verde e branco. = My house is green and white.

- Nossa casa é azul e branco. = Our house is blue and white.

- Meu carro é vermelho. = My car is red.

- Nosso carro é preto. = Our car is black.

Observations

I) The use of the articles a, o, as, os before the possessive pronouns is optional.

Examples:

- A minha mãe é maravilhosa. = My mom is wonderful.

- Minha mãe é maravilhosa. = My mom is wonderful.

- O meu pai é maravilhoso. = My dad is wonderful.

- Meu pai é maravilhoso. = My dad is wonderful.

II) The possessive pronouns seu, seus, sua, suas can be used to refer to your (yours), his, her (hers) and their (theirs) causing ambiguities, because you don’t know if the pronoun is referring to you or to other person.

Example:

- Maria não encontrou seu amigo. Maria did not meet your/her friend. 

(This sentence generates some confusion because you don’t know if the person is referring to your or her friend. If the person is referring to her friend is better to say:Maria não encontrou o amigo dela.  Maria did not meet her friend. )