Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Italian possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe (the thing being owned), not the owner. They also almost always require a definite article.

Masculine Plural Possessives

Masculine plural possessives pair with masculine plural nouns and use the definite article i:

EnglishItalian
myi miei
youri tuoi
his/her/itsi suoi
ouri nostri
your (pl.)i vostri
theiri loro

Note on family: While singular family members drop the definite article (like mio padre), plural family members always keep the article.

My parents and my grandparents are here.
I miei genitori e i miei nonni sono qui.
Our parents have many projects.
I nostri genitori hanno molti progetti.
Are your colleagues busy?
I tuoi colleghi sono occupati?

Feminine Plural Possessives

Feminine plural possessives use the feminine plural article le and corresponding endings:

EnglishItalian
myle mie
yourle tue
his/her/itsle sue
ourle nostre
your (pl.)le vostre
theirle loro

Notice that loro (their) never changes its ending. It simply takes the matching definite article (i loro or le loro).

My shoes are new.
Le mie scarpe sono nuove.
Her daughters are eight and ten years old.
Le sue figlie hanno otto e dieci anni.
Where are your keys?
Dove sono le tue chiavi?

When describing multiple things in the same sentence, each possessive adjective must agree with its specific noun.

Their grandparents have three dogs.
I loro nonni hanno tre cani.
Your projects and our vacations are important.
I tuoi progetti e le nostre vacanze sono importanti.

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