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French grammar Part of Chapter 17

CEFR B1-B2

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French Possessive Pronouns: le mien, le tien, le sien Chart

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

(mine), (yours), (ours): French possessive pronouns replace a possessive and its noun. They always carry an article, and they agree with the thing owned, never with the owner.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the mistake.

masculinefemininepluralWhat do the colours mean?
ma voiture (my car) becomes la mienne (mine)

The forms at a glance

Read across a row for one owner. The article and the ending copy the noun being replaced.

OwnerMasc. sgFem. sgPlural (m / f)
(mine) /
(yours) /
, (his, hers) sienne / siennes
(ours)
(yours)
, (theirs)

, and never change for gender: only the article does, and each has one plural for both genders.

  • ? - Your garden or ours?
  • ? - Your house or ours?
  • - My keys and theirs

These pronouns stand alone. In front of a noun you need the possessive adjectives , , from French possessive adjectives.

Agreement: the thing owned, not the owner

English his and hers tell you about the owner. French tells you about the thing: the noun's gender and number decide the form, whoever owns it.

  • ? - , . - Is it your car? Yes, it's mine. (said by a man or a woman)
  • . ? - My parents are well. And yours?

So can mean his, hers or its. The form follows the noun:

OwnerWhat they ownHis or hers
sienne - his
ma - hers
ma siennes - hers
- his
A woman with long hair and a bow stands on the grass holding an open green umbrella over her head and a dog on a red lead; a red car is parked behind her.
  3. sienne

Elle (she) owns all three. Her dog is le sien (le chien), her car la sienne (la voiture), her umbrella le sien (le parapluie). The owner is a woman every time; only the thing decides.

Le nôtre or notre?

notre, votre: before a nounle nôtre, le vôtre: standing aloneWhat do the colours mean?

The adjective sits in front of a noun and has no accent. The pronoun stands alone and carries a circumflex.

Adjective + nounPronounEnglish
our house, ours
your garden, yours
our children, ours
  • . - Your garden is bigger than ours.
  • . - Our children are playing with yours.

In standard French the accent changes the sound too: has the closed o of , the open o of . Without the circumflex, is a spelling mistake, not a variant.

Au mien, du tien: à and de contract

the contracted articleWhat do the colours mean?

The pronoun's and behave like any article: after and they fuse.

Je préfère mon plan au tien. I prefer my plan to yours.
PiecesBecomesExample
à + .
à + .
+ .
+ .

In order: I prefer my plan to yours; I'm thinking of my parents and yours; your opinion is different from mine; our problems are different from theirs.

never contracts, so the feminine stays as it is: , . The toast proves it:

  • ! - Cheers! (literally "to yours", your health)
  • ! - Cheers! (to a friend)

C'est à moi or c'est le mien?

After , both mean it's mine, with a slight difference in what they answer:

FormWhat it doesExample
.states who owns it ? - .
.picks yours out of others ? , .

In order: Whose bag is this? It's mine. Two bags? This one is mine.

takes the stressed pronouns from French stressed pronouns:

SingularPlural
, ,
, ,

Elsewhere, as a subject, an object, or after or a preposition, only works. (The one other home of is straight after a noun, below.)

  • . - Take mine.
  • . - Your house is bigger than mine.

For a friend of mine, use or , never :

  • . - He's a friend of mine.
  • . - He's one of my friends.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
siennefor : is
for : is
the pronoun takes ô
à + is
. .à needs or a noun before it
takes , or ( is archaic)

What to do next

  1. Say the noun first, then the pronoun: , .
  2. Do the drill below.
  3. Review demonstrative pronouns: names the owner when cannot.

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/7

Which word for 'mine' replaces each noun?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Complete the story

0/4

Choose the pronoun that fits each gap. The neighbour is a man.

My neighbour has it better

Mon voisin a tout mieux que moi. Ma voiture est petite ; est grande. Mon chien est petit ; est énorme. Mes enfants sont malades ; vont bien. Bref, sa vie est plus facile que !

Gap 1 of 4

Spot the mistake

0/4

Tap the mistake.

Fill in the blank

0/6

Fill the gap with the possessive pronoun, agreeing with the thing owned. Keep the circumflex on le nôtre and le vôtre.

  1. Ta voiture est petite ; est grande. (mine) (voiture is feminine)

    Accents count here

  2. J'ai oublié mon livre, tu me donnes ? (yours, tu) (livre is masculine)

    Accents count here

  3. Votre chien est plus grand que . (ours) (circumflex on the pronoun)

    Accents count here

  4. Nos enfants jouent avec . (yours, vous) (circumflex, plural)

    Accents count here

  5. Leur maison est belle, mais je préfère . (ours) (maison is feminine)

    Accents count here

  6. Nos problèmes sont différents . (from theirs) (de + les contracts)

    Accents count here

Pick the right one

0/4

À moi or le mien? Only one fits each sentence.

  1. C'est un ami . (a friend of mine)

  2. Ta voiture est trop petite ? Prends !

  3. Sa maison est plus grande que .

  4. Ce sont des amis . (friends of ours)

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The forms at a glance
  3. Agreement: the thing owned, not the owner
  4. Le nôtre or notre?
  5. Au mien, du tien: à and de contract
  6. C'est à moi or c'est le mien?
  7. C'est à moi or c'est le mien?
  8. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What are the French possessive pronouns?
(mine), (yours, ), (his, hers or its), (ours), (yours, ) and (theirs). Each agrees with the thing possessed: , , , . They replace a possessive adjective plus its noun: becomes (it's mine).
Does the French possessive pronoun agree with the owner or the thing owned?
With the thing owned. Voiture is feminine, so 'mine' is whether the speaker is a man or a woman. That is why can mean his, hers or its: the form tells you the gender of the object, not of the person. A woman's book is ; a man's car is sienne.
What is the difference between and in French?
and are adjectives and sit in front of a noun: (our house). and are pronouns, stand alone, and carry a circumflex: (ours). In standard French the accent also changes the sound, a closed o in and an open o in . uses both.
What is the difference between and ?
After both mean it's mine. is the plain statement of ownership, the usual answer to à ... ? (whose is...?). picks your thing out from others. As a subject, an object or after a preposition only works: (take mine), (bigger than mine).
How do you say 'a friend of mine' in French?
(one of my friends) or, more casually, . always has its definite article and means the particular one that is mine, so it cannot translate 'a friend of mine'.