¿Vas a competir con un perro suyo?

Questions & Answers about ¿Vas a competir con un perro suyo?

Why use un perro suyo instead of just saying su perro?
su perro translates to "her dog," which usually implies a specific dog or her only dog. Using un perro suyo means "a dog of hers" or "one of her dogs." We put the long possessive adjective (suyo) after the noun to create this indefinite meaning.
Does suyo agree with the gender of the dog or the gender of the owner?
It agrees with the dog. Possessive adjectives in Spanish always match the noun being possessed. Since perro is masculine and singular, we use suyo. If you were talking about a female dog, it would be una perra suya, regardless of whether the owner is a man or a woman.
suyo can mean "of his," "of hers," or "of theirs." How do we know it means "of hers" in this sentence?
By itself, we do not! Out of context, un perro suyo could mean a dog of his, hers, yours (formal), or theirs. We assume "of hers" here based on the English translation provided, which implies the speakers already established who they were talking about. If you needed to clarify out of the blue, you could say un perro de ella.
Could I say un su perro to mean "a dog of hers"?
No, in Spanish you cannot put an indefinite article (un or una) right before a short possessive like su. You have to use the long form of the possessive (suyo or suya) and place it after the noun: un perro suyo.

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