French B1

Possessive Pronouns

Apart from [object Promise], there are several possessive pronouns in French - let's take a closer look at them and find out how exactly they work.

French

Possessive Pronouns - the Usage

Rule 1: Possessive pronouns are used instead of nouns to show that someone or something belongs to the other. In English, the possessive pronouns are mine, yours, hers, his, ours, and theirs. In French, the situation is a little bit more complicated.

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Forming the Possessive Pronouns

There are quite a few possessive pronouns in French, but they are pretty easy to remember. Here's a table that should help you with that:

Masculine SingularFeminine SingularMasculine PluralFeminine Plural
le mien la mienne les miens les miennes
le tien la tienne les tiens les tiennes
le sien la sienne les siens les siennes
le nôtre la nôtre les nôtres les nôtres
le vôtre la vôtre les vôtres les vôtres
le leur la leur les leurs les leurs

Rule 2: Possessive pronouns are always used with a definite article.

Rule 3: Possessive pronouns must agree with the nouns they replace in terms of gender and number and not the person who owns this thing. If in English, we will have This house is his, in French, we will have Cette maison est la sienne.

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Rule 4: Remember that when used with à or de, definite articles contract:

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Quiz

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Translate: This is my friend's mug. This is her mug.