Possessive Pronouns


Possessive pronouns refer to a noun that belongs to someone. In English, they include the words mine, yours, ours, theirs, etc. Do not confuse possessive pronouns with possessive adjectives. Compare the possessive pronouns with the possessive adjectives in the following English sentences.

Possessive Adjectives
I am walking my dog.
She is reading her book.
You are watching our movie.
      Possessive Pronouns
Whose dog are you walking? I am walking mine.
Whose book is she reading? She is reading hers.
Whose movie is he watching? He is watching ours.

**NB: Note that in English, the word his can be both a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun:

He is reading his book.
Whose book is he reading? He is reading his.

In French, possessive pronouns have the same function as they do in English. The French possessive pronouns are:

Corresponding
Owner		Masculine
Singular		Masculine
Plural		Feminine
Singular		Feminine
Plural		English
Translation
jele mienles miensla mienneles miennesmine
tule tienles tiensla tienneles tiennesyours
il, elle, onle sienles siensla sienneles sienneshis, hers
nousle n�treles n�tresla n�treles n�tresours
vousle v�treles v�tresla v�treles v�tresyours
ils, ellesle leurles leursla leurles leurstheirs


Some examples of possessive pronouns used in French sentences:

Ma voiture ne marche pas aujourd'hui. Est-ce qu'on peux prendre la tienne?    My car isn't working today. Can we use yours?
Est-ce que c'est le livre de Marie? Non, c'est le mien.    Is this Marie's book? No, it's mine.
J'aime assez bien ta maison, mais je pr�f�re la mienne.    I like your house, but I prefer mine.

Notes:

1. French possessive pronouns agree in number and gender with the noun they refer to, not with the speaker. So, "le sien" can mean "his" or "hers;" the masculine form is used because the object it's refering to is masculine.

2. Note the difference in spelling between the possessive adjectives for the first and second person plural (notre and votre), and the possessive pronouns for the first and second person plural (le n�tre, la n�tre, les n�tres and le v�tre, la v�tre, les v�tres). The possessive pronouns have a circonflex accent (^) over the o.

3. In some cases, the gender of the possessive adjective used is not the same as the gender of the possessive pronoun. Example:
     J'aime assez bien ton id�e, mais je pr�f�re la mienne.
     I like your idea, but I prefer mine.
In this example, ton is used because the masculine singular is used if the noun comes right after the possessive adjective, and the noun starts with a vowel or h muet. This is so that there will not be two vowel sounds in a row, and it is easier to say. But even if the masculine possessive adjective would be used with a certain feminine noun (i.e. ton id�e), the feminine possessive pronoun is used.


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Created 10 Nov 2006
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