I possessivi

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Possessives 
Conveniently, Italian possessive adjectives (mio my, tuo your, etc.) and pronouns (mio mine, tuo yours, etc..) are identical in form, so you only have to learn one set. The difference is in meaning. Where the possessive adjectives il mio, la sua, etc. (used in front of a noun) means my, your etc. the possessive pronouns il mio, la sua, etc. (without being followed by a noun) means mine, yours, etc.: le mie sorelle  e le tue (my sisters and yours). As you can see, possessive adjectives are preceded by a definite article (il, la, i, le) that is not translated into English. Unlike English, Italian requires that possessive adjectives and pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to:

For instance:

libro is a sing. and m. noun: il mio libro (my book), il tuo libro (your book) etc.
libri is a pl. and m. noun: i miei libri (my books), il tuoi libri (your books) etc.
penna is a sing. and f. noun: la mia penna (my pen), la tua penna (your pens) etc.
penne is a pl. and f. noun: le mie penne (my pens), le tue penne (your pens) etc.

If, until now, everything is not new and clear, some problems for an English speaker can arise with the third person possessives because possessive agree with the object possessed and not with the possessor as in English. For example, the Italian equivalent of:

1. ‘his’ in ‘Mario has his + noun’
2. ‘her’ in ‘Anna has her + noun’
3. ‘its’ in ‘The dog has its + noun’

can be any one of suo, sua, suoi, or sue because they do not agree with ‘Mario’, ‘Anna’, or the ‘The dog’ but with the gender and number of the ‘noun’ (in this case the object possessed).

Pay attention:

a) If the noun is a masculine and singular word like giocattolo (toy) in all three cases the Italian equivalent will be il suo regardless of the gender of the owner:

1. Mario ha il suo giocattolo (Mario has his toy)
2. Anna ha il suo giocattolo (Anna has her toy)
3. Il cane ha il suo giocattolo (The dog has its toy)

b) In case of a singular feminine word like tazza (bowl), the possessive will instead be la sua:

1. Mario ha la sua tazza (Mario has his bowl)
2. Anna ha la sua tazza (Anna has her bowl)
3. Il cane ha la sua tazza (The dog has its bowl)

c) When the word is a plural masculine noun like giocattoli (toys), the possessive will always be i suoi:

1. Mario ha i suoi giocattoli (Mario has his toys)
2. Anna ha i suoi giocattoli (Anna has her toys)
3. Il cane ha i suoi giocattoli (The dog has its toys)

d) When the word is a plural feminine noun like tazze (bowls), the possessive will always be le sue:

1. Mario ha le sue tazze (Mario has his bowls)
2. Anna ha le sue tazze (Anna has her bowls)
3. Il cane ha le sue tazze (The dog has its bowls)

As you can see, il suo, la sua, i suoi, and le sue mean di lui (of him) or di lei (of her), and refer to a single person: I suoi (= di lui / di lei) amici sono simpatici (His/Her friends are nice). When other forms change (mio, mia, miei, mie) loro always stays the same and always refers to two or more people. In this case only the definite article (il, la, i, le) agree in gender and number with the thing, the animal possessed or the person to whom the relationship refers: La loro auto è veloce (Their car is fast), Bocelli è il loro cantante preferito (Bocelli is their favorite singer), I loro genitori sono molto simpatici (Their parents are very nice).

Note: a) When the article in front of the possessive adjectives or pronouns is preceded by the prepositions di, a, da, in, su, the prepositions join the article to form an articulated preposition (see Unità 7): di + il mio = del mio; a + la nostra = alla nostra; in + i vostri = nei vostri; etc.: La penna è nel mio zaino (The pen is in my backpack), Questa è la casa dei miei nonni (This is my grandparents’ house).
b) The articles are not used with sing. family nouns (see next chapter) or in a few expressions where the possessive must follow the noun: a casa mia, tua etc. (at my/your etc. place, to my/your house),  affari miei, tuoi etc. (it’s my/your business etc.), Mamma mia! (My goodness!).

• Look at the picture above. Do you understand the meaning of the Italian book titles? Translate them into English. Use the Dictionary if you need it.
• Make your book title using at least one possessive. Then use Spell and Grammar Checker to check if there are mistakes in your text.
• Answer the questions: a) Chi è il tuo parente preferito? Perché?  (Who is you favorite relative ? Why?). Use Speech to text to check your pronunciation. Then ask the same questions to one of your friends.