Possessive pronouns in Portuguese are essential for expressing ownership and relationships.

They work both as adjectives (when placed before a noun) and pronouns (when used alone). The same forms are used in both cases, so once you learn them, you can apply them in different contexts:

As an adjective (before the noun)
O meu carro é novinho em folha. 
My car is brand new.

As a pronoun (stand-alone)
Aquele carro é meu.
That car is mine.

Let’s dive in.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace the noun they refer to and agree in gender and number it:

	Masculine & Singular	Feminine & Singular	Masculine & Plural	Feminine & Plural
mine	(o) meu	(a) minha	(os) meus	(as) minhas
yours	(o) teu	(a) tua	(os) teus	(as) tuas
formal yours his/hers*	(o) seu	(a) sua	(os) seus	(as) suas
ours	(o) nosso	(a) nossa	(os) nossos	(as) nossas
yours	(o) vosso	(a) vossa	(as) vossos	(os) vossas
theirs*	(o) seu	(a) sua	(os) seus	(as) suas

* See “3-person de-possessives” below.

A few examples:

A minha guitarra soa melhor do que a tua.
My guitar sounds better than yours.

Os meus pais estão bem. E os teus?
My parents are well. What about yours?

Estas maçãs não são más, mas eu prefiro as nossas.
These apples are not bad but I prefer ours.

When used with the verb ser, possessive pronouns typically do not require a preceding definite article; if present, the article is optional and serves merely as emphasis.

Aquele carro ali é (o) meu.
That car over there is mine.

Essas malas são (as) nossas.
Those suitcases are ours.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives precede the noun they modify and, in European Portuguese, are often introduced by a definite article (o, a, os, as).

These adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to:

	Masculine & Singular	Feminine & Singular	Masculine & Plural	Feminine & Plural
my	o meu amigo	a minha amiga	os meus amigos	as minhas amigas
your	o teu amigo	a tua amiga	os teus amigos	as tuas amigas
formal your his/her *	o seu amigo	a sua amiga	os seus amigos	as suas amigas
our	o nosso amigo	a nossa amiga	os nossos amigos	as nossas amigas
your	o vosso amigo	a vossa amiga	as vossos amigas	os vossas amigos
their *	o seu amigo	a sua amiga	os seus amigos	as suas amigas

* See “3-person de-possessives” below

A few examples:

Trouxeste os nossos livros?
Did you bring our books?

Gostei muito de conhecer os teus pais.
It was a pleasure to meet your parents.

Não sei onde pus as minhas lentes.
I don’t know where I put my lenses.

Possessive adjectives are often omitted when the relationship between the possessor and the possessed is clear from context or commonly understood:

Vim de carro.
I came in my car.

Veste as calças!
Put your trousers on!

3^rd Person “De-Possessives”: dele(s), dela(s)

In Portuguese, the possessive adjectives seu/sua/seus/suas can refer to:

• the formal second-person singular (você),
• the third-person singular (ele, ela), or
• the third-person plural (eles, elas).

Because these forms are ambiguous, it’s often unclear who the possessor is. For example, seu livro could mean your book (formal), his book, her book, or their book depending on context.

To avoid this confusion, Portuguese speakers frequently use “de-possessives” — expressions formed by combining the preposition de with third-person subject pronouns. These constructions make the possessor explicit:

	Masculine	Feminine
his/her	dele (de + ele)	dela (de + ela)
their	deles (de + eles)	delas (de + elas)

Agreement and Position of Third-Person De-Possessives

Unlike the possessives seu/sua/seus/suas, which agree in gender and number with the possessed noun, third-person de-possessives (dele, dela, deles, delas) agree with the possessor. This mirrors how English possessives like his, her, and their function.

Additionally, de-possessives are placed after the noun they re:

Já vi a casa dele.
I have already seen his house.

Ainda não conheceste a mãe dela?
Haven’t you met her mother yet?

Gosto mais da cultura deles do que da nossa.
I like their culture better than ours.

Some verbs are often followed by the particle de, for instance, gostar de. Thus, dele/dela/deles/delas can be a mere contraction between de and an object pronoun, which has nothing to do with de-possessives.

Examples:

Eu gosto dele. (gostar de) 
I like him. 

Tu precisas deles. (precisar de)
You need them.