Learn Italian: Ho pulito la mia stanza, non la sua.

Ho pulito la mia stanza, non la sua.

I cleaned my room, not his.

Breakdown of Ho pulito la mia stanza, non la sua.

Questions & Answers about Ho pulito la mia stanza, non la sua.

What does la sua replace in the second half of the sentence?

It replaces the noun stanza (room). Instead of repeating non la sua stanza (not his room), we just use the independent possessive pronoun la sua (his). Because stanza is feminine singular, the pronoun must also be feminine singular.

Can la sua mean 'hers' too? How do we know it means 'his' here?

Yes, la sua can mean 'his', 'hers', or even formal 'yours'! In Italian, possessives agree with the thing being owned (the room), not the owner. Since stanza is feminine, we use la sua whether the owner is a man or a woman. You would only know it means 'his' from the wider context of the conversation.

Could I drop the article and just say non sua?

No, you must keep the article la. When a possessive stands alone as a pronoun to replace a noun, it needs the definite article (il, la, i, or le) right before it.

Why does the verb pulito end in -o even though stanza is feminine?