Using Preposition De In Spanish To Express Possession

Written by qualified Spanish expert Inma Sánchez BALast updated: 2025-04-1211 questionsReport a problem

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Using preposition de in Spanish to express possessionWritten by qualified Spanish expert Inma Sánchez BALast updated: 2025-04-1211 questionsTake the fastest path to fluent SpanishJoin now for free!

Learn about preposition "de" in Spanish: possession

In Spanish, the preposition "de" is used to express that something belongs to someone. It is a very different construction to the English equivalent using an apostrophe: 's. 

Have a look at these examples to see how it works:

La casa de Lucía.Lucía's house.

El dormitorio de mi hermana.My sister's bedroom.

Los zapatos de mamá.Mum's shoes.

Los amigos de Carlota.Carlota's friends.

As you can see, in Spanish the word order is different to the English.

We name the possession first, and then the possessor, e.g "la casa" (possession) "de" (of) "Lucía" (who possesses), literally "The house of Lucía".

Remember that if the article "el" comes after "de" you need to contract the two words to "del":

El cuaderno del estudiante.The student's notebook.

but

La pulsera de la niña.The girl's bracelet.

The other main difference with English is the presence of the definite articles el/la/los/las before the possession, these are omitted in English.   Los zapatos de mamá.Mum's shoes. Notice how the article los is used in "los zapatos", while in English there is no article "mum's shoes".   Just like in English we can create phrases for when there is a chain of possession, for example:   Las llaves del coche de Carlos.Carlos' car keys.   La mujer del hermano de Sofía.Sofía's brother's wife. Important note: When we talk about a things that are located in/at a place, in Spanish we still use the preposition "de" as if we were saying that that thing belongs to that place, while in English the place becomes an adjective, and there is no apostrophe. For example:   Las sillas del jardín son muy útiles.The garden chairs are very useful.   Me gusta la mesa de la cocina.I like the kitchen table.   To learn about other ways to express possession, see:  

•  Possessive adjectives in Spanish: my, your, his, her, its, our and their (Adjetivos posesivos)
•  How to say our and your (possessive adjectives)

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• Preposición

Examples and resources

Los zapatos de mamá.Mum's shoes.Los amigos de Carlota.Carlota's friends.El cuaderno del estudiante.The student's notebook.Las llaves del coche de Carlos.Carlos' car keys.La mujer del hermano de Sofía.Sofía's brother's wife.La pulsera de la niña.The girl's bracelet.Me gusta la mesa de la cocina.I like the kitchen table.Las sillas del jardín son muy útiles.The garden chairs are very useful.La Plaza Mayor de MadridPlaza Mayor in/of MadridLa catedral de BurgosBurgos cathedralLa casa de Lucía.Lucía's house.El dormitorio de mi hermana.My sister's bedroom. Clever stuff happening!