POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

117. The possessive pronouns, inflected like adjectives terminating in o, agree in gender and number with the object possessed, and not with the possessor.

118. The possessive pronouns may be classed as conjunctive and absolute: those preceding nouns being called conjunctive; those which follow nouns or which stand alone are termed absolute. The conjunctives drop their final syllable, thus losing their gender distinction, except the first and second persons plural. The following table shows the variations:

nuestros,

vuestros,

vuestro, vuestra,

your, yours.

nuestras, nuestros, nuestras, our, ours.

vuestras, vuestros, vuestras, your, yours.

119. The conjunctive forms of the possessive pronouns precede the nouns which they qualify, when emphasis is not intended:

Mi caballo, mis caballos.

Mi casa, mis casas.

My horse, my horses.

My house, my houses.

Nuestro hermano, nuestros her- Our brother, our brothers,

manos,

120. As su, sus, his, her, its, their, your, one's, are equivocal, the personal pronoun preceded by the preposition de (genitive) may be added to the noun to prevent ambiguity, or to give emphasis:

Su sombrero de V.

Su sombrero de él.

Su pluma de ella.

Your hat.

His hat.

Her pen.

121. Su, sus, in such cases as the above, may be replaced by the definite article:

La silla de V.

La ciudad de ella.

El amigo de él.

Your chair.

Her city.

His friend.

122. When V. is used as a term of address, your must be rendered by su, sus, his (honor, understood):

Su corbata, su corbata de V., la Your cravat.

corbata de V.

123. The possessive pronoun may be strengthened by adding propio-a, own :

Mi propio bastón.

El suyo propio.

My own walking-stick.

His own.

124. For the sake of intensity, the uncontracted forms of the possessive pronouns are used after nouns with the definite article, and without the definite article in the case of vocatives:

125. If, however, a past participle used as an adjective or an ordinary adjective accompanies the vocative, either the conjunctive or absolute form may be used:

Querido amigo mío or mi querido My dear friend.

amigo.

126. When possessive pronouns are used in a general or indeterminate sense, corresponding to the English a, an, some of mine,

the absolute form is employed:

Un hermano mío.

Un sombrero suyo.
Unos paisanos de V.

A brother of mine.

A hat of his.

Some countrymen of yours.

127. The possessive adjective gives way to the indirect personal pronoun and the definite article with the noun, in referring to the parts of the body or to articles of dress :

Me machaqué el pie.

Le duele á V. la muela ?

I mashed my foot.

Does your tooth ache ?

128. When the person or thing possessed is not expressed, the possessive pronoun is used with the article, both agreeing with the object possessed:

Mi esposa y la tuya.

My wife and thine.

129. The possessive pronoun loses the article when it stands in the predicate with the verb to be:

Este cuaderno es mío.

This copy-book is mine.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

130. The demonstrative pronouns agree in gender and number with the nouns which they qualify, with the exception of the neuter forms, which are invariable:

132. The natural position of the demonstratives, este, ese, aquel, is before the nouns which they qualify; but in lively and intensive language they may follow nouns, which are preceded, in such cases, by the definite article:

Este diccionario.

Ese zapato,

This dictionary,

That shoe.

133. Este designates what is near to the speaker, corresponding to the adverb aquí, here; ese, that which is near the person spoken to, where he is, or about which he is speaking, corresponding to the adverb ahí, there; aquel, that which is remote from both the speaker and the person addressed, or from what they are discussing, and corresponding to the adverb allí, there, yonder.

134. Speaking historically, present time is denoted by este; moderately past time, say, within a lifetime, by ese; and an event long past is designated by aquel :

Esta época.

This epoch, these days.

Ese suceso.

Aquel tiempo.

That event (within my memory).
That time (say, of Columbus).

135. Éste and aquél denote latter and former, respectively: Después de acabar aquél empezó After finishing the former, he á leer éste. began to read the latter.

136. The so-called neuter forms esto, eso, aquello, this thing, that thing, refer to sentences, statements, or thoughts, they being too indefinite to be ascribed gender:

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

138. The relative pronouns are as follows:

Quien, quienes, who; que, (invariable,) who, which, that.
El cual, la cual ; los cuales, las cuales, who, which,
El que, la que; los que, las que,

Lo cual, which (thing); lo que, that which, what.
Cuyo, cuya; cuyos, cuyas, whose, of which, which.
Aquel que, or el que, he who,
Aquella que, or la que, she who,
Aquellos que, or los que,
Aquellas que, or las que,

the one who, the one which

Quien, he who, the one who;

or that.

those who, or those which, the ones who or which.

quienes, those who, the ones who. Aquello que, that (thing, saying or matter) which.

139. Quien may now be used of persons only. It gives place to que, when the antecedent is a word of either gender or number; but in compound sentences, each member of which makes complete sense in itself, either quien, el cual (or their variations), or que may be used:

El general que vino.

La semana pasada encontré á una señorita; quien (la cual, que)

me dió este libro.

The general who came.

Last week I met a young lady who gave me this book.

140. Quien must always be preceded by a preposition when used as the object of a verb; and with prepositions is subject to the same rules, and is capable of the same use, as nouns :

El hombre á quien V. conoce. The man whom you know.

141. Que may be used with reference to persons or things in the nominative or accusative cases only; in other cases, that is, when used with prepositions, it refers to things. It is invariable in form, and its inflection is indicated by prepositions:

La muchacha que estudia.

El reloj que anda.

La ciudad en que vivo.

Las plumas con que escribo.

The girl who studies.

The clock that runs.

The city in which I live.

The pens with which I write.

142. Quien and que, as accusatives, should never be omitted, as

the corresponding words often are in English:

La casa que vi.

Un caballero á quien conozco.

The house (that) I saw.

The man (whom) I know.

143. El cual and el que (and their variations), since they are substitutes for quien and que, relate to persons or things, and are preferred, when an inflected relative is desirable, to avoid ambiguity, or for the sake of variety:

Compré una casa nueva en la cual I bought a new house, in (the) vivo ahora. which I now live.