In opposite to Spanish, French and English there is no difference in the form between the possessive pronoun and the the possessive adjective in Portuguese.
language
adjective
pronoun
Portuguese:
A minha casa é branca.
A minha é branca.
Italian:
La mia casa é bianca.
La mia é bianca.
Spanish:
Mi casa es blanca.
La mía es blanca.
French:
Ma maison é blanche.
La mienne est blanche.
German:
Mein Haus ist weiß.
Meines ist weiß.
English:
Ma house is white.
Mine is white..
It is striking that in the case that the adjective doesn't differ from the pronoun the possessive pronoun / adjective is preceded by an article. Perhaps there is a reason for that, perhaps it is pure coincidence. It is furthermore striking that the geographically and historically most distant languages, Portuguese and Italian use an article in this context and the languages with almost the same historical background and which until today are spoken in bordering or even the same regions like Spanish and Portuguese differ from each other.
The preceding article can be left out in brasilian portuguese, although the preceding article is the more common structure, as a little research with google shows.
If we compare "Estou em minha casa" and und "Estou na minha casa", em + a = na, see 4.1.1, we get the following results. (Don't forget the quotations marks if you put the sentences in google, otherwise you will get all the pages where the words show up in any order.)
Estou em minha casa.
322000 results
I am in my house.
Estou na minha casa.
1.350000 results
I am in my house.
The table below shows all the possessive adjectives / pronouns. To você and vocês belong the possessive adjective / pronouns of the 3rd person singular / plural, what is not very astonishing, because você and vocês require always the third person singular.
singular
plural
maskuline
feminine
maskuline
feminine
eu
meu
minha
meus
minhas
tu
teu
tua
teus
tuas
você
seu
sua
seus
seus
ele
seu
sua
seus
suas
ela
seu
sua
seus
suas
nós
nosso
nossa
nossos
nossas
vocês
seu
sua
seus
suas
eles
seu
sua
seus
suas
elas
seu
sua
seus
suas
In the examples we put a definite article in front of the possessive adjectives / pronouns.
O
meu
irmão
é
muito
bonito.
The
my
brother
is
very
beautiful.
My brother is a good looking man.
A
minha
irmã
é
muita
bonita.
The
my
sister
is
very
beautiful.
My sister is a beautiful woman.
Não
acho
a
minha
caneta.
Not
find
the
my
pencil.
I can't find my pencil.
Os
seus
carros
são
todos
vermelhos.
The
their
cars
are
all
red.
All their cars are red.
Gosto
do
teu.
Like
of the
yours.
I like yours..
Não
o
podemos
fazer
com
a
tua.
Not
that
can
do
with
the
yours.
We can't do that with yours.
As
suas
são
muito
belas.
The
his
are
very
beautiful.
His are very beautiful. .
As we can deduce from the table seu, sua, seus and suas are ambiguous. The table below shows all four different meanings.
exemple
possible meaning
gender / number
pronous substituted by a noun
Esse é seu.
This is his.
3rd singular, masculine
It is his car.
This is hers
3rd singular, feminine
It is her car.
This is theirs.
3rd plural, masculine
It is their car.
This is theirs.
3rd plurall, feminine
It is their car.
Possible ambiguities can be avoided by using the form de + stressed personal pronoun, see 6.1.2. (The construction doesn't work in English, but is perfect in Portuguese.
Esse é dela.
=> ~This is of her.
Esse é dele.
=> ~ This is of him.
Esse é delas.
=> ~ This is of them.
Esse é deles.
=> ~ This is of them.
Ele não aceitou seu desprezo.
He couldn't support his / her / their / their contempt.
Ele não aceitou o desprezo dela.
He couldn't support her your contempt.
Ele não aceitou o desprezo dele.
He couldn't support his contempt.
Ele não aceitou o desprezo delas.
He couldn't support their your contempt.
Ele não aceitou o desprezo deles.
He couldn't support their contempt.
The general rule that você or vocês requires the 3rd person singular / plural, for example in the case of a reflexive pronoun, "Você lava-se", "You wash yourself", is not valid in the case of dele / dela / deles / delas. In this case it is de você or de vocês.
Seu carro está com o pneu furado.
His / Her tyre is perforated. => His / her car has a flat tyre.
Your tyre is perforated. => Your car has a flat tyre.
O carro de você está com o pneu furado.
Your tyre is perforated. => Your car has a flat tyre.
O carro de vocês está com o pneu furado.
Your tyre is perforated. => Your car has a flat tyre.
