Long-Form Possessives (Mío, Tuyo, Suyo) | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Spanish has a second set of possessives that look very different from mi, tu, su. These are the long forms: mío, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, vuestro. They all change for both gender and number, giving four forms each. They are used after a noun, as predicates (after ser), or standing alone to form pronouns.

The short forms (mi, tu, su) and the long forms (mío, tuyo, suyo) cover the same possessive ground, but in different positions in the sentence. Knowing both lets you sound natural in a much wider range of contexts.

The Complete Table of Long Forms

Here's the entire set, with all four gender/number combinations for each person.

Person	Masc. sing.	Fem. sing.	Masc. pl.	Fem. pl.
yo	mío	mía	míos	mías
tú	tuyo	tuya	tuyos	tuyas
él / ella / usted	suyo	suya	suyos	suyas
nosotros	nuestro	nuestra	nuestros	nuestras
vosotros (Spain)	vuestro	vuestra	vuestros	vuestras
ellos / ellas / ustedes	suyo	suya	suyos	suyas

Just like the short forms, long forms agree with the thing possessed, not the owner. And just like the short forms, vuestro is essentially absent in Latin American Spanish — Latin Americans use suyo (or de ustedes) for plural "your".

Use 1 — After a Noun

When you place a long form after a noun, the meaning becomes of mine, of yours, of his, etc. This pattern is extremely common in introductions and descriptions.

Un amigo mío vive en Buenos Aires.

A friend of mine lives in Buenos Aires.

Una prima tuya me llamó ayer.

A cousin of yours called me yesterday.

Tengo unos vecinos nuestros muy simpáticos.

We have some really nice neighbors of ours.

Notice that in this pattern the noun still needs its own article or other determiner in front of it — un amigo, una prima. The long form only adds the "of mine / of yours" meaning.

Use 2 — With Ser (Predicate)

After ser, long forms simply translate as mine, yours, his, ours.

Este libro es mío.

This book is mine.

Las llaves son tuyas, ¿verdad?

The keys are yours, right?

La culpa no es mía.

The fault isn't mine.

Note how tuyas is feminine plural because llaves is feminine plural. The long form always copies the gender and number of the noun it refers to, even when that noun is just understood from context.

Use 3 — Emphatic and Exclamations

Long forms appear in fixed expressions and emotional exclamations, often at moments of strong feeling. They can also serve as a vocative — a way to address someone affectionately.

¡Dios mío! ¿Qué pasó aquí?

My God! What happened here?

Hija mía, ven aquí un momento.

My (dear) daughter, come here for a moment.

The vocative form hija mía, amor mío carries a warm, slightly formal tone — you hear it from parents to children, or in songs and poetry.

Use 4 — Standing Alone (with the article)

A long form with a definite article in front of it becomes a full pronoun: el mío, la mía, los tuyos. The article carries the gender and number of the noun being replaced. Because that construction has its own rules and its own name, it gets a separate article — see Possessive Pronouns.

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Remember that suyo is ambiguous — it can mean his, hers, yours (formal), theirs, or yours (plural). When context isn't enough, Latin American Spanish prefers de él, de ella, de usted, de ellos, de ustedes. See Disambiguating Su.

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The short form nuestro and the long form nuestro look identical! Context tells you which is which. Before the noun (nuestra casa) it's the short form; after the noun or after ser (la casa nuestra, es nuestra) it's the long form.

Comparing Short vs Long Forms

Here is a side-by-side overview of when to use which:

Position	Form	Example
Before the noun	short	mi libro
After the noun	long	un libro mío
After ser	long	el libro es mío
With definite article	long (as pronoun)	el mío
In exclamations	long (vocative)	¡Dios mío!

Answering "Whose is it?"

The most common everyday context for long forms is answering ¿De quién es…? ("Whose is…?"). Spanish speakers reach for the long form constantly in this situation:

¿De quién es esta mochila? — Es mía.

Whose backpack is this? — It's mine.

¿De quién son estos libros? — Son nuestros.

Whose books are these? — They're ours.

Estas llaves son tuyas, ¿no?

These keys are yours, aren't they?

Long forms may feel unusual at first because English has nothing like them, but they quickly become natural — and you'll need them all the time when introducing people (un amigo mío) or claiming possessions (es mío). For the article-plus-long-form pattern that creates pronouns, see Possessive Pronouns, and for the everyday short forms before nouns, see Short-Form Possessives.