Español — The possessive relative cuyo

cuyo means "whose" and links two clauses while showing possession. Unlike other relatives, it agrees in gender and number with the thing possessed, not with the owner: el autor cuya novela leí.

How it works

✓ Rule

cuyo is placed directly before the possessed noun and takes its gender and number: el autor cuya novela leí (fem. sing. novela), los países cuyas fronteras cambiaron (fem. pl. fronteras). It never agrees with the possessor.

Examples

The four forms, agreeing with the possessed noun
Form	Agrees with	Example
cuyo	masculine singular noun	el pintor cuyo cuadro compré
cuya	feminine singular noun	el autor cuya novela leí
cuyos	masculine plural noun	el poeta cuyos versos recito
cuyas	feminine plural noun	la ciudad cuyas calles recorrí
cuyo (persona o cosa)	works for people and things alike	la empresa cuyos empleados protestaron

Good to know

⚠ Note

cuyo belongs to formal and written register; in speech people often replace it with que + possessive (el autor que leí su novela), which is considered incorrect. Also note cuyo is never used in questions: "Whose is this?" is ¿De quién es esto?, not «¿cuyo es esto?».