French · Chapter 17 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Possessive pronouns: le mien, le tien
le mien / la mienne / les miens through le leur for 'mine, yours, theirs'. The pronoun agrees with the thing owned, the circumflex on le notre / le votre, and c'est a moi vs c'est le mien.
The short version
Mine agrees with the thing, not the owner
English his and hers mark the owner; French marks the object. Voiture is feminine, so a man's car is la sienne and mine is la mienne whoever I happen to be. Le sien on its own can mean his, hers or its, and the form tells you nothing whatsoever about the person.
Ma voiture est petite; la sienne est grande.
The circumflex marks a different word
Notre and votre are the adjectives and sit in front of a noun. Le nôtre and le vôtre are the pronouns, they carry a circumflex, and they are pronounced with a closed o. Votre jardin est plus grand que le nôtre uses both. Dropping the accent is a real error, not a typo.
Votre jardin est plus grand que le nôtre.
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