Showing possession using 'de' in Spanish

• To express possession in Spanish, use de meaning 'of'.

• If de is followed by el, the words are contracted and become del.

In English, the possessive s is used to show possession.

For example:

This is Alba’s book.

The possessive ‘s' after Alba indicates that the book belongs to Alba.

To show possession in Spanish, use de meaning 'of'.

For example:

Este es el libro de Alba.

This translates directly as ‘this is the book of Alba’, although ‘this is Alba’s book’ is a better translation. Here are some more examples:

El boli de Daniel - Daniel’s pen

Este es el móvil de mi hermano. - This is my brother’s phone.

Los coches de mis padres. - My parents’ cars.

If the noun the thing belongs to is masculine singular, the de and the el contract to become del.

For example:

La bicicleta del chico - The boy’s bike

El coche del vecino - The neighbour’s car

Practise what you've learned about the possessive 'of' in Spanish with this quiz.

Now you have learned about possession using 'of' in Spanish why not explore usted and ustedes?