"el mio"

[ItsThaMonsta]

In the following sentence why is "el mio" used instead of just "mio".

Hay demasiado carros aqui. No puedo encontrar el mio.

[pjt33]

"Mine" translates as "mío" in some contexts and "el mío" in others*. A rule which probably works to distinguish is to ask whether in English you can replace it with "my one". (Actually my instinct was to back-translate your sentence as "my one" rather than "mine".)


* Declining as mío, mía, míos, mías and el mío, la mía, los míos, las mías.

[ItsThaMonsta]

Originally Posted by pjt33

"Mine" translates as "mío" in some contexts and "el mío" in others*. A rule which probably works to distinguish is to ask whether in English you can replace it with "my one". (Actually my instinct was to back-translate your sentence as "my one" rather than "mine".)


* Declining as mío, mía, míos, mías and el mío, la mía, los míos, las mías.

Thanks!

[irmamar]

el, la, los, las + pronombre posesivo (el mío, la mía, el tuyo, la tuya, el suyo, etc.) are used when the object is already mentioned:

Este libro es mío.
Esta casa es tuya.

¿Es tuyo este libro? No, el mío está en mi mesa.
¿Es tuya esa casa? No, la mía está pintada de blanco.
Hablando de motos, ¿dónde está la tuya?
Estábamos hablando de perros cuando se presentó Juan con el suyo.
etc.