Possessive adjectives in Italian (my, your, his/her...)

Possessive adjectives (aggettivi possessivi) indicate possession of one or more elements by any subject or object in speech.

Declension of possessive adjectives in Italian

Possessive adjectives are six and follow the regular declension of adjectives. The only invariable pronoun is loro (their).

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Foti V.

Giulia G.

Lana V.

Chiara Z.

Alessandra C.

Aljaž S.

Rossella A.

Cinzia C.

Silvia C.

Marco P.

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Third person possessive adjectives (singular and plural)

• suo / sua / suoi / sue are used when the possessor is only one

Andrea mi ha invitato alla sua festa di compleanno.
Andrea invited me to his birthday's party.

In Italian, the distinction between a masculine and feminine possessor doesn't show in third person possessive adjective:
      La sua macchina → His car / Her car ?
      You can understand the gender of the possessor only from the context.

• loro is used when the possessors are two or more

Claudio e Donatella ci hanno dato la loro auto.
Claudio and Donatella gave us their car.

• when the subject and the possessor are the same person, we can use the adjective proprio instead of suo/loro

Simona ci tiene molto alla propria casa.
Simona cares a lot about her own house.

Use of possessive adjectives in Italian

Possessive adjectives precede the noun and follow the definite or indefinite article.

Articles are sometimes omitted with family members.