What this is about
My, your, our — the possessives. One idea makes them click: they agree with the THING OWNED, not with the owner. A man still says minha casa, because casa is feminine. And Brazil solved the his/her ambiguity with a trick English doesn't have: dele/dela.
The paradigm
| owner | masc. thing | fem. thing |
|---|---|---|
| my | meu carro · meus carros | minha casa · minhas casas |
| your | seu carro · seus carros | sua casa · suas casas |
| our | nosso carro · nossos carros | nossa casa · nossas casas |
| his / her / their | o carro dele / dela / deles / delas — AFTER the noun | |
In sentences
| Minha irmã mora no Rio. | my sister — irmã is feminine → minha |
| Meus amigos são ótimos. | plural agrees too → meus |
| Sua casa é bonita! | your house |
| O carro dele é novo; a casa dela é velha. | HIS car, HER house — crystal clear |
Why dele/dela exists
seu/sua officially means "your" AND "his/her" — chaos. Brazil's fix: keep seu/sua for YOUR, and say "of him / of her" for the rest: de + ele = dele, de + ela = dela (plus deles/delas for their). Position flips to AFTER the noun: o carro dele. In conversation this is not optional style — it is how Brazilians actually disambiguate.
Exceptions & details
1 · The article is optional before possessives: (a) minha casa — both correct; speech usually keeps it: A minha casa é longe.
2 · Body parts & clothes often skip the possessive: Vou lavar as mãos (I'll wash MY hands — the owner is obvious).
3 · dele/dela agrees with the OWNER (dele = his), while meu/sua agree with the THING — the two systems coexist happily in one sentence.
Practise this chapter
5 pool questions plus generated ones — 20 fresh practice questions, reshuffled every visit, inside the grammar library.
Practise Possessives: meu, sua, dele… — 20 questions →This chapter is taught in Lição 7 of the course — free, no account needed. Rumo is a complete Brazilian Portuguese course, A1 to B2; level A1 is free.