Le mien, le tien, le sien, etc = Mine, yours, his/hers/its (possessive pronouns)

In: Level A2, Pronouns, Pronom possessif
Questions: 15

Look at the sentences:

Puis-je emprunter ton vélo? J'ai perdu le mien.
Can I borrow your bike? I've lost mine.

C'est à qui ce stylo? C'est le mien.
Whose is this pen? It's mine.

Ces lunettes de soleil ne sont pas les siennes.
Those sunglasses are not his.

The expressions for 'mine', 'yours' and 'his/hers' in French agree in gender and number with the noun they imply or replace:

  mine yours his/hers
masc.sing. le mien le tien le sien
fem.sing. la mienne la tienne la sienne
masc.pl. les miens les tiens les siens
fem.pl. les miennes les tiennes les siennes

 

See also Le nôtre, le vôtre, le leur, etc = Ours, yours, theirs (possessive pronouns)
and Expressing possession with être à

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Pronom possessif

Examples and resources

C'est à qui ce stylo? C'est le mien.
Whose is this pen? It's mine.

Ces lunettes de soleil ne sont pas les siennes.
Those sunglasses are not his.

J'aime bien ta voiture, elle est mieux que la mienne.
I like your car, it's better than mine.

Puis-je emprunter ton vélo? J'ai perdu le mien.
Can I borrow your bike? I've lost mine.

Q&A

Katy

Kwiziq community member

14 January 2019

2 replies

Is tien or tienne appropriate is this a formal situation where you would use ‘Vous’?

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

14 January 2019

14/01/19

Hi Katy,

If you use the polite ‘vous’, these will be the wrong pronouns to use . You have to use ‘le/la/les vôtre/s’ just as if ‘vous’ represented several people.

Take a look at the following lesson which will give you more details - 

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/how-to-express-ours-yours-theirs-le-notrele-votrele-leur-possessive-pronouns

 

Hope this helps!

Katy

Kwiziq community member

14 January 2019

14/01/19

Merci beaucoup!

Sherilyn

Kwiziq community member

5 November 2018

1 reply

I still get confused on when to you use Le sien, La sienne and lui and elle

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

5 November 2018

5/11/18

Hi Sherilyn,

Take a look at the following lesson which explains when to use lui (him/her) and leur (them):

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/when-to-use-lui-and-leur-to-replace-specific-people-with-him-her-and-them-indirect-object-pronouns

Le sien/ la sienne are just different pronouns ( called possessive) to say his/hers/its .

Hope this helps!

 

Daniel

Kwiziq community member

21 June 2017

1 reply

J'aime bien ta voiture, elle est mieux que la mienne.

Why mieux and not meilleure? Une bonne voiture, une voiture meilleure que la mienne?

Ron

Kwiziq community member

21 June 2017

21/06/17

Bonjour Daniel, J'aime bien ta voiture, elle est mieux que la mienne. I like your car, it's better than mine. In the phrase, obviously it is a comparaison, i.e. comparing ta voiture to la mienne. The word «mieux» is the adverb and «meilleure» is an adjective. So in comparing the two cars, the adverb is used for the comparaison. If the speaker were to be describing his own car in some detail, then the adjective would be used is the sense that I have on the difference. Bonne chance!

Surendra

Kwiziq community member

11 April 2017

1 reply

ta vs ton

J'aime bien ta voiture Puis-je emprunter ton vélo? When do we use 'ta' and when do we use 'ton'

Laura

Kwiziq language super star

11 April 2017

11/04/17

Bonjour Surenda, You use ton with masculine nouns like vélo, and ta with femininte nouns like voiture. See our lesson at Mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses = my; your; his / her (possessive adjectives)

Melody

Kwiziq community member

16 June 2016

5 replies

C'est à moi

I seem to remember another lesson that talked about the the sort of construction above. Something like Whose suitcase is this? (French translation appreciated)- C'est a moi. = It's mine. I have trouble remembering the "names" of the different types of pronouns. Would it be possible to add a link to the lesson that discussed à moi, à toi, etc. ?

Melody

Kwiziq community member

16 June 2016

16/06/16

.p.s I posted this as a Q re: the lesson on possessive pronouns- la mienne, etc.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

17 June 2016

17/06/16

Bonjour Melody !

Thank you for your request, these links were indeed much needed, and thanks to you, they've been added to the related lessons.

Here is the link to the lesson regarding expressing possession with être à + stress pronoun: 
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/how-to-express-possession-with-etre-a

Merci et à bientôt !

Johanna

Kwiziq community member

17 November 2018

17/11/18

I’m confused on when to use the À moi form vs Le mien.  I looked at both lessons and didn’t see a reference that clarified it. 

Ann

Kwiziq community member

2 January 2019

2/01/19

I wondered exactly the same thing so thank you for asking the question

Jamie

Kwiziq community member

11 May 2019

11/05/19

I am also wondering the same, can someone please help?

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