Possessive Agreement Rule

This rule is known as concordância do possessivo. It is one of the most common points of confusion for English speakers.

1. The Agreement Rule
In English, we say 'his book' because the owner is male. In Portuguese, we say o seu livro because livro is masculine. If the same man owns a house, we say a sua casa because casa is feminine. The possessive must also agree in number with the object. If he owns two houses, we say as suas casas.

2. The Four Forms
Possessives have four variations to match the noun:

• Masculine Singular: meu, teu, seu, nosso, vosso
• Feminine Singular: minha, tua, sua, nossa, vossa
• Masculine Plural: meus, teus, seus, nossos, vossos
• Feminine Plural: minhas, tuas, suas, nossas, vossas

Note: While vosso/vossa is standard in Portugal for plural 'your', it is rarely used in everyday spoken Portuguese in Brazil. Instead, Brazilians use the phrase de vocês (e.g., o carro de vocês) for plural 'your', which functions exactly like 'dele/dela' and is placed after the noun.

3. The Ambiguity of 'Seu/Sua' and the Use of 'Teu/Tua'
The words seu/sua can mean 'his', 'her', 'its', 'their', or 'your' (formal). In many parts of Brazil, this is also the standard way to say 'your' when addressing someone as você. However, in Portugal and several regions of Brazil, teu/tua is the standard informal 'your' (used with tu), while seu/sua is reserved for formal situations or third-person possession. Because seu/sua is often confusing, speakers frequently use dele/dela instead for 'his/her', and deles/delas for 'their'. These are literal contractions of the preposition de + ele/ela/eles/elas (meaning 'of him', 'of her', 'of them'). Because they are prepositional phrases and not adjectives, they do not change to match the object possessed, but they do change to match the possessor (dele, dela, deles, delas). They are always placed after the noun (e.g., o carro dele).

4. Possessives with 'A Gente'
When using a gente (the informal 'we'), the verb is conjugated in the third-person singular, but the possessive used is usually nosso/nossa or the phrase da gente (e.g., A gente vendeu o nosso carro or o carro da gente).

5. Article Usage
In Portugal, it is almost mandatory to use a definite article before the possessive (o meu carro). In Brazil, this is optional (meu carro or o meu carro). However, there are some important exceptions and nuances:

• The Predicate Exception: When the possessive comes after the verb ser (to be), do not use the article (e.g., O livro é meu).
• The Vocative Exception: When addressing someone or something directly, the article is omitted (e.g., Meu Deus!).
• Kinship Terms: In Brazil, the article is frequently dropped before possessives when talking about close family members (e.g., minha mãe is preferred over a minha mãe). In European Portuguese, the article is still strongly preferred.

6. Body Parts and Clothing
In Portuguese, when referring to body parts or clothing and the owner is obvious from the context, you typically drop the possessive adjective and use a definite article instead. For example, instead of saying 'Lavei minhas mãos' (I washed my hands), you say Lavei as mãos (I washed the hands).