Os Pronomes Possessivos

(Possessive Pronouns)

Possessive pronouns is a subclassification of pronoun, being used

mainly to indicate possession relationship or, also, idea of approximate
numerical value or affection. It varies according to the gender and number
of what it refers to.

 Possessive pronouns are one of the pronoun categories.

 They are used to associate a noun with a person of speech,

establishing a relationship of possession, affection or an
approximate numerical value.

 They vary in gender and number, according to the noun they

accompany.

 They vary in their form according to the person of speech to

whom they refer.

 Some pronouns of address have part of their form composed of

possessive pronouns.

Possessive pronouns differ from demonstrative pronouns in that the

latter accompany nouns to situate them in time or space.
 Possessive pronouns vary in gender (masculine or feminine) and in
number (singular or plural), according to the noun to which they refer. In
addition, they also vary according to the 1st, 2nd or 3rd person. See:

“A minha mochila está muito pesada!”

(My backpack is too heavy!)

“As minhas mochilas estão muito pesadas!”

(My backpacks are too heavy!)

“O meu material está muito pesado!”

(My stuff is too heavy!)

“Os meus materiais estão muito pesados!”

(My materials are too heavy!)

Notice how, in each case above, the possessive pronoun adapted its form
according to the gender (backpack - female; material - male) and the number
(singular or plural) of the noun to which it refers. In all these cases, the pronoun
referred to the 1st person singular ("Eu"). If the possessive relation was to the
2nd person singular ("Tu/Você"), the appropriate possessive pronoun would be
the form "Teu" and its variants:

“A tua mochila está muito pesada!”

 ("Your backpack is too heavy!")

“As tuas mochilas estão muito pesadas!”

(“Your backpacks are too heavy!”)

“O teu material está muito pesado!”

("Your material is too heavy!")

“Os teus materiais estão muito pesados!”

("Your materials are too heavy!")

singular plural
(um possuidor) (mais de um possuidor)
1ª meu, minha, nosso, nossa,
pessoa meus, minhas nossos, nossas
2ª teu, tua, vosso, vossa,
pessoa teus, tuas vossos, vossas
3ª seu, sua,
seu, sua,
pessoa seus, suas

Attention: the 3rd person forms (seu, sua, seus, suas, ) can generate
ambiguity in some contexts:

“Marília perguntou ao Fred onde estava o seu uniforme.”

("Marilia asked Fred where his uniform was.")

After all, whose uniform was it: Marilia's or Fred's? In such cases, it
is recommended to use the forms "dele/dela", forms that also indicate a
relation of ownership and remove ambiguity in this context.