A posessive adjective is a word which shows possession or who owns something. Sometimes it agrees in gender (masculine and femenine) and always in number with the noun and not the possessor.

In Spanish, the three forms of possessive adjectives are: mi – mi amigo (my friend); tu – tu amigo (your friend); su – su amigo (their, your, his, or her friend); nuestro – nuestro amigo (our friend).

Unlike English, just add “s” to both words (the possessive adjective and the noun that follows) when talking about more than one. For example, mis amigos – my friends; tus amigos – your friends (familiar form); sus amigos – their, your, his or her friends; nuestros (as) amigos (as) – our friends.

Again, notice that these plural forms are different than English in that if the noun is plural, the possessor has to be plural. This concept seems to be very confusing for many language students because it does not exist in English.

There is another form of possessive adjectives in Spanish which i wil,discuss in a future column.

Tiquismo of the week:

Here is your Costa Rican expression of tiquismo for this week which requires a somewhat lengthy explanation: ¡Regálame!. You will hear the locals use this word many times while shopping in Costa Rica. Don’t get confused because this term usually means to give a gift with no intention of monetary compensation. The nearest English translation is “I’ll take it” or “Give me X product” with an exchange of money for an article shortly after.