How to Express Possession with "de" in Spanish

Explanation

   Expressing possession in Spanish can be done by using the word "de". Expressing possession with an apostrophe and an "s" ('s) is never ever possible in Spanish! So, forget about "Ana's amigo". If you want to say "Ana's friend", you have to say "El amigo de Ana", otherwise, you are not speaking Spanish, but Spanglish.
   Another difference is that in Spanish, the possessor goes after the object possessed, right after the word "de". Look at the following examples:
  • La casa de Mario (Mario's house - Literally: The house of Mario).

  • La casa del (de + el = del) señor García (Mr. García's house - Literally: The house  of Mr. García).
   
   Notice how in the second example, the word de and el (for el señor) becomes del. Whenever de is followed by el, we say del instead of de el. For de la, de las, and de los we do not do a contraction. 
   Keep in mind that when a proper name follows, we use de, as in la casa de Rita (Rita's house), not la casa de la Rita. 

More examples

  • El perro de Juan (Juan's dog - Literally: The dog of Juan)
  • El perro del niño (the boy's dog - Literally: The dog of the boy)
  • El perro de la niña (The girl's dog - Literally: the dog of the girl)
  • El perro de los niños (The boys' dog -Literally: The dog of the boys)
  • El perro de las niñas (The girls' dog - Literally: The dog of the girls)

Audio

First, do the activity on the right-hand side. Then, listen to this audio clip to check your answers. Finally, play it again and repeat after me to practice your pronunciation.

Grammar Practice