Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Possessive pronouns

When you want to say "mine" or "yours" instead of repeating a noun (like "my suitcase" or "your bag"), you use a possessive pronoun.

In French, possessive pronouns always include a definite article (**le**, **la**, or **les**). They must agree in gender and number with the noun they are replacing—not with the owner!

| Owner | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Masculine Plural | Feminine Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Je (mine)** | le mien | la mienne | les miens | les miennes |
| **Tu (yours)** | le tien | la tienne | les tiens | les tiennes |
| **Il/Elle (his/hers/its)**| le sien | la sienne | les siens | les siennes |
| **Nous (ours)** | le nôtre | la nôtre | les nôtres | les nôtres |
| **Vous (yours)** | le vôtre | la vôtre | les vôtres | les vôtres |
| **Ils/Elles (theirs)**| le leur | la leur | les leurs | les leurs |

Let's look at the pronouns for singular owners first. Notice how the pronoun changes depending on whether the replaced noun is masculine (like *un sac*) or feminine (like *une valise*).

{{item:868735}}

{{item:868737}}

Just like in English, the "his" or "hers" pronoun depends on who the owner is. But remember, the *gender* of the French pronoun (**le sien** vs. **la sienne**) still matches the object being owned, not the person who owns it.

{{item:868744}}

### Contractions with prepositions

Because possessive pronouns use the definite articles **le** and **les**, they follow the normal rules for contractions. If a pronoun follows the preposition **à** (to/at) or **de** (of/from), the preposition and article combine to form **au**, **aux**, **du**, or **des**.

{{item:868742}}

### Ours, yours, and theirs

For plural owners, the spelling of the pronoun is slightly simpler. The word itself doesn't change for masculine or feminine objects—only the article in front of it does (e.g., **le nôtre** vs. **la nôtre**).

Notice the circumflex accent (ˆ) on **le nôtre** and **le vôtre**. This accent is required for the pronouns and helps tell them apart from the possessive adjectives *notre* and *votre* (which mean "our" and "your").

{{item:868732}}

{{item:868751}}

To make these pronouns plural, simply change the article to **les** and add an **-s** to the end of the word.

{{item:868746}}

Possessive pronouns (le mien, le tien...)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
Excuse me, I am looking for my suitcase in this airport.	Pardon, je cherche ma valise dans cet aéroport.
black	noir
yours (formal/plural, masculine/feminine singular; also les vôtres)	le vôtre
Is this big black bag yours?	Est-ce que ce grand sac noir est le vôtre ?
mine (masculine singular; also la mienne, les miens, les miennes)	le mien
red	rouge
No, mine is red.	Non, le mien est rouge.
to look like, to resemble	ressembler à
This red suitcase looks like mine.	Cette valise rouge ressemble à la mienne.
the tag, label (f)	l'étiquette
There is no tag on yours.	Il n'y a pas d'étiquette sur le vôtre.
Mine has a big tag with my name.	Le mien a une grande étiquette avec mon nom.
yours (informal, masculine singular; also la tienne, les tiens, les tiennes)	le tien
Your coat looks like mine, but yours is black.	Ton manteau ressemble au mien, mais le tien est noir.
his, hers, its (masculine singular; also la sienne, les siens, les siennes)	le sien
This passenger is looking for a passport because he lost his.	Ce passager cherche un passeport parce qu'il a perdu le sien.
theirs (masculine/feminine singular; also les leurs)	le leur
Are these suitcases yours or theirs?	Est-ce que ces valises sont les vôtres ou les leurs ?
I have my ticket, but they lost theirs.	J'ai mon billet, mais ils ont perdu les leurs.
ours (masculine/feminine singular; also les nôtres)	le nôtre
Ours are in the car with the suitcases.	Les nôtres sont dans la voiture avec les valises.
There is no address on his.	Il n'y a pas d'adresse sur le sien.
Is your flight late like ours?	Est-ce que votre vol est en retard comme le nôtre ?
I cannot find my charger. Do you have yours?	Je ne trouve pas mon chargeur. Est-ce que tu as le tien ?
the object, item (m)	l'objet
Here is a black object. Is it yours?	Voici un objet noir. Est-ce que c'est le vôtre ?
The passenger is looking for an object. Is it his?	Le passager cherche un objet. Est-ce que c'est le sien ?
blue	bleu
My car is blue.	Ma voiture est bleue.
I like the colour blue.	J'aime la couleur bleue.
green	vert
The rug is green.	Le tapis est vert.
He is wearing a green jumper.	Il porte un pull vert.
brown	marron
My coat is brown.	Mon manteau est marron.
These shoes are brown.	Ces chaussures sont marron.

Contributors