Portuguese · Chapter 4 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Possessives: meu, minha, seu
Meu and minha are honest about gender; seu can mean his, her, its, your or their, and context decides.
The short version
Minha casa, whoever is speaking
Portuguese possessives agree with the thing owned, not the owner. Casa is feminine, so a man talking about his house says minha casa, and a woman talking about her father says meu pai. English has trained you to look at the owner; look at the noun instead.
Eu gosto da minha casa.
Seu means your; say dele for his
On paper seu can mean his, her, its, your or their. Brazilian speech has settled it as your, and says his and her with dele and dela after the noun: o carro dele, a casa dela. Unlike meu, dele and dela follow the owner, so his house is a casa dele.
A Ana mora com o marido dela.
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