Breakdown of J'ai mon billet, mais ils ont perdu les leurs.
je
I
mais
but
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
avoir
to have
le billet
the ticket
mon
my (mon, ma, mes)
perdre
to lose
le leur
theirs (masculine/feminine singular; also les leurs)
Questions & Answers about J'ai mon billet, mais ils ont perdu les leurs.
Why is there a les in front of leurs?
In French, possessive pronouns (words like mine, yours, theirs) always need a definite article (le, la, or les) in front of them. Because we are replacing the concept of their tickets, which is plural, we use les leurs.
The first part says mon billet (singular). Why is the second part les leurs (plural)?
Even though you only have one ticket (mon billet), they are a group of people who probably had one ticket each. Les leurs translates to theirs, but grammatically replaces the plural idea of their tickets (leurs billets). If the group shared a single ticket, it would be le leur.
How can I tell when to use leurs (their) instead of les leurs (theirs)?
Leurs is a possessive adjective, meaning it must be followed by a noun (like leurs billets). Les leurs is a possessive pronoun, meaning it stands completely alone to replace the noun phrase. The article (les) is your big clue that it is a pronoun.
How do you pronounce les leurs? Is the s at the end silent?
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