Mi Casa es Su Casa

Have you ever realized how much you can learn from looking at your surroundings? Look at the picture for instance. It´s an example of a very popular sign in a lot of American homes in Mexico. But have you stopped and analyze its powerful structure?

No? Hmm.. Well let´s see:

Mi Casa es Su Casa.

Mi and Su are possessive adjectives such as Tu and Nuestro, and go before a noun to express ownership of such noun.

So basically what it says in the sign is "My house is Your house."


Look at these examples:

Mi chamarra es azul.
My jacket is blue.

Tu perro se llama Spikey.
Your dog´s name is Spikey.

Nuestro equipo de soccer es el mejor.
Our soccer team is the best.

Mi abuela es de Florida.
My grandmother is from Florida.

¿Te acuerdas de nuestro viaje a México?
Do you remember our trip to Mexico?

No conozco a tu mamá.
I don´t know your mother.

Just watch out for these ones, as they can be misleading!

Su vestido es rosa.
Her dress is pink.

Su hijo está en Estados Unidos.
His/Her/Their son is in the United States.

El y su hermano son socios en este negocio.
He and his brother are partners in this business.

Su casa está en Cuernavaca.
His/Her/Their house is in Cuernavaca.

Now what happens here with the poss.adj. SU is that it can refer to either one of these: EL, ELLA or ELLOS/AS. So how can we tell which one is which?

First, out of context. Our first example here reads: Su vestido es rosa. Vestido being a women´s garment and also a singular noun, we can infer it´s a SHE we are talking about.

Second, by establishing who the subject is (who we are talking about)in a previos sentence:

Luis tiene una familia muy grande. Su papá vive en Alemania...
Luis has a pretty big family. His father lives in Germany...

So using SU here clearly states that it´s HIS father (Luis´ father) who lives in Germany.


See Full Chart of Possessive Adjectives