Say whose it is: mio, tuo, suo

The forms: mio, tuo, suo…

Most possessives have four forms, like an -o adjective. Three have a small surprise in the masculine plural: mio → miei, tuo → tuoi, suo → suoi. Loro never changes at all.

Use tuo when you talk to one friend and vostro when you talk to two or more people: il tuo biglietto (your ticket, to one person), le vostre valigie (your suitcases, to a group).

The article comes along

With things, places and friends, Italian keeps the article in front of the possessive: il mio letto, la nostra casa, i tuoi amici. Leaving it out (mio letto) sounds wrong.

The article is chosen by the word straight after it, which is now the possessive. So it’s lo zaino but il mio zaino, and l’amico but il mio amico. In the masculine plural it’s always i: i miei, i tuoi, i nostri, never gli.

Think of the possessive as an adjective sitting between the article and the noun: il + mio + zaino.

Match the thing, not the owner

The possessive agrees with the thing owned, not with the person who owns it. Suo and sua both mean his or her. Libro is masculine, so it’s il suo libro, whether it’s his book or her book. Casa is feminine, so it’s la sua casa, his house or her house.

English chooses his or her by the owner; Italian looks only at the noun. The context tells you who the owner is.

When you speak to someone as Lei, your uses the same forms: il suo passaporto can also mean your passport.

Family: no article for one person

With a single family member, drop the article: mia madre, tuo padre, suo fratello, nostra zia. This is the one big exception to the article habit.

It covers the close family words: padre, madre, fratello, sorella, figlio, figlia, marito, moglie, nonno, nonna, zio, zia, cugino, cugina. Friends aren’t family in this sense, so il mio amico and la mia amica keep the article.

When the article comes back

The article returns as soon as there’s more than one family member: i miei fratelli, le mie sorelle, i nostri figli.

It also returns when the family word is changed or described: a small form like sorellina (little sister), or an adjective like cara (dear). The affectionate words mamma and papà usually take it too: la mia mamma, il mio papà, though you’ll also hear mia mamma.

One plain family word: no article. Anything more: the article comes back.

loro: their

Loro (their) is the odd one out. It never changes its ending, and it always keeps the article, even with one family member: il loro padre, la loro casa, i loro figli, le loro valigie. Only the article shows gender and number.

Use loro for two or more owners and suo for one. Paolo and Lucia’s son is il loro figlio, not il suo figlio.

Answering: switch the person

In a conversation, the possessive switches with the speaker. If someone asks about il tuo passaporto (your passport), you answer about il mio passaporto (my passport). The article and the ending stay the same, because the thing is the same.

Common mistakes

• La mia madre è simpatica.Mia madre è simpatica.One family member takes no article.
• Mio letto è piccolo.Il mio letto è piccolo.Things keep the article; only a single family member drops it.
• Ecco miei fratelli.Ecco i miei fratelli.More than one family member brings the article back.
• Marco e suo sorellaMarco e sua sorellaThe possessive matches sorella, not Marco.
• Ecco loro padre.Ecco il loro padre.Loro always keeps its article, even with family.
• i mii amicii miei amiciThe masculine plural of mio is miei.
• lo mio zainoil mio zainoThe article goes with mio, which starts with m, so it’s il.

The full table

Match the possessive to the thing owned, then add the article.

One family member, no article: mio padre, tua sorella. More than one: i miei fratelli.

Loro never changes and always keeps its article: il loro padre.

The article follows the possessive’s first sound: lo zaino, but il mio zaino.