Chapter 6 - Expressing Possession

Fortunately, the method by which possession is expressed is relatively simple.  The forms are as follows.                        

English Italian feminine masculine
singular plural singular plural
my, mine la mia le mie il mio i miei
your, yours la tua le tue il tuo i tuoi
her, hers, his la sua le sue il suo i suoi
our, ours la nostra le nostre il nostro i nostri
your, yours la vostra le vostre il vostro i vostri
their, theirs la loro le loro il loro i loro

When used with members of a family, the singular forms omit the article.
            for example:    mio padre = my father                        mia sorella = my sister
                                  mio fratello = my brother                    mia famiglia = my family
In the plural, or if a description is present, the full forms are used.
            for example:    i miei fratelli                my brothers
                                   i mio padre alto           my tall father
                                  la mia cara madre       my dear mother
Contractions with prepositions occur as usual.
            for example:    nella mia cạmera        in my room
                                  dal mio paese              from my country
When referring to parts of the body, and clothing, possessive forms are generally replaced by an article.
            for example:    Io domenticai il cappello.         I forgot my hat.
                                  Clemente si è rotto la gamba.     Clement broke his leg.

The preposition di is used to indicate ownership.
            for example:    il libro di Giuseppe      Joseph’s book

When used before words beginning with the vowel i, the preposition di is ALWAYS contracted to d’, and generally before other vowels, although in those instances the use is optional.
            for example:    la capitale d’Italia       the capital of Italy
                                  la capitale d’Egitto, the capital of Egypt  or  la capitale di Egitto, the capital of Egypt

The expression di chi means whose.
            for example:    Di chi sọno questi libri?         Whose books are these?
                                 Loro sọno i miei.                       They are mine.

This page was last modified on 26 December 2023.