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Lesson 15A1

Possessive Adjectives

உரிமைப் பெயரடைகள்

Spanish possessives — mi, tu, su, and the rest — mostly agree with the noun they describe rather than the person who owns it, and even then only in number for most of them, a pattern with just one gender-agreeing exception that Tamil doesn't have at all.

Grammar Comparison

இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு

mi/tu/su stay fixed for singular nouns, any owner

Spanish

mi libro (my book) / mi casa (my house) — mi never changes

Tamil

என் புத்தகம் / என் வீடு — 'என்' மாறாது

mi, tu, and su don't change for gender at all — mi libro and mi casa both use mi, matching Tamil's என், which likewise stays fixed regardless of what follows it. Where Spanish and Tamil part ways is the plural.

nuestro/nuestra: the one possessive that does change for gender

Spanish

nuestro libro (our book, masc.) / nuestra casa (our house, fem.)

Tamil

எங்கள் புத்தகம் / எங்கள் வீடு — 'எங்கள்' மாறாது

nuestro ('our') and vuestro ('you-all's') are the only possessives that change ending to match the gender of the noun they describe — nuestro for masculine, nuestra for feminine. Tamil's எங்கள் stays exactly the same either way, so this is one spot where Spanish adds a layer Tamil doesn't have.

Plural nouns need mis/tus/sus

Spanish

mis libros (my books) — mi adds -s to match the plural noun

Tamil

என் புத்தகங்கள் — 'என்' மாறாது, 'கள்' புத்தகத்தில் மட்டும்

When the possessed noun is plural, mi/tu/su all add -s (mis, tus, sus) to agree — mis libros, not mi libros. Tamil marks the plural only on the noun itself (புத்தகங்கள்) and leaves என் untouched, so remembering to also pluralize the possessive word is a Spanish-specific habit.

Vocabulary

சொற்கள்

SpanishPronunciationTamilEnglish
mimeeஎன்eṉmy
tutooஉன்uṉyour (informal)
susooஅவனுடைய / அவளுடையavanuḍaiya / avaḷuḍaiyahis / her / your (formal)
nuestro / nuestranoo-EHS-troh / noo-EHS-trahஎங்கள்eṅgaḷour
mis librosmees LEE-brohsஎன் புத்தகங்கள்eṉ puttakaṅgaḷmy books