Seu, Sua, Dele, or Dela? Make Portuguese Possession Clear
Seu/sua agree with the thing owned, while dele/dela point clearly to a male or female owner in many Brazilian sentences.
Real Life Portuguese · 5 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
Seu and sua mean ‘your’ or ‘his/her’ depending on context. The possessive agrees with the noun that follows, not with the owner: seu livro (your/his/her book), sua casa (your/his/her house), seus amigos, suas ideias.
Match seu or sua to the thing owned
With você, seu/sua commonly mean ‘your.’ But if several people are in the sentence, the owner may be unclear. Dele or dela can make that relationship explicit.
Você trouxe sua carteira?
Did you bring your wallet?
Ela encontrou seus documentos.
She found her documents.
O senhor esqueceu sua chave?
Did you forget your key?
Name the owner with dele or dela when needed
Dele (of him/his) and dela (of her/hers) agree with the owner, while the owned noun keeps its own gender: o carro dela, a mochila dele. This is a useful way to remove ambiguity when both você and another person are mentioned.
A simple edit can make a sentence clearer. If it is obvious whose item you mean, seu or sua is concise. If the listener might wonder which person owns it, repeat the owner with dele/dela.
A Ana falou com o irmão dela.
Ana spoke with her brother.
Bruno, este é o seu casaco?
Bruno, is this your coat?
O carro dele é azul, e o dela é branco.
His car is blue, and hers is white.
Put it into practice
Seu/sua agree with the thing owned and can mean ‘your’ or ‘his/her.’ Use dele/dela when naming the owner will make the sentence easier to understand.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “Bruno, is this your coat”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
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