French Grammar in Context

Possessives 95

b The possessive adjective normally occurs before each noun to which it applies, e.g. Ils perdent
leur confiance ils perdent leur lumière(line 6). It would have been necessary to use leurbefore
lumièreeven if there had been no second occurrence of perdent, thus: Ils perdent leur confiance
et leur lumière.

c The forms of the possessive adjectives are:

1st person masc. mon(= my) notre(= our)

fem. ma notre

plural mes nos

2nd person masc. ton(= your) votre(= your)

fem. ta votre

plural tes vos

3rd person masc. son(= his, her, its) leur(= their)

fem. sa leur

plural ses leurs

2 POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

a The possessive pronoun stands in the place of a noun and agrees with the noun to which it
refers, e.g. la tienne(line 16) referring to vie(line 15).

b The forms of the possessive pronouns are:

1st person masc. sing. le mien le nôtre

fem. sing. la mienne la nôtre

masc. pl. les miens les nôtres

fem. pl. les miennes les nôtres

2nd person masc. sing. le tien le vôtre

fem. sing. la tienne la vôtre

masc. pl. les tiens les vôtres

fem. pl. les tiennes les vôtres

3rd person masc. sing. le sien le leur

fem. sing. la sienne la leur

masc. pl. les siens les leurs

fem. pl. les siennes les leurs

c The definite article forms part of the possessive pronoun and must always be present. The
normal contracted form of the article will be used with the prepositions àor de.
e.g. au tien(line 20)