What are the possessive pronouns in French?

Le mien, le tien, le sien, le nôtre, le vôtre and le leur, each with a feminine and plural form: la mienne, les miens, les miennes, and so on. They mean mine, yours, his or hers, ours, yours and theirs.

Does le sien mean his or hers?

Both. French makes no distinction between a male and a female owner here. Le sien, la sienne, les siens and les siennes all mean his, hers or its, and the form you choose depends only on what is owned: sa maison becomes la sienne for either owner.

Why does the possessive pronoun need an article?

Because the article is part of the pronoun in French. Le mien, la tienne and les leurs are single units, and the article contracts with à and de like any other: au mien, du sien, des nôtres. Only a few archaic phrases drop it.

What's the difference between notre and nôtre?

Notre is the possessive adjective and goes in front of a noun: notre maison. Nôtre with a circumflex is the pronoun and follows an article: la nôtre. The accent also lengthens and closes the vowel, so the two are audibly different.

Can I say c'est à moi instead of c'est le mien?

Yes, and in speech it's more common. C'est à moi asserts that something belongs to you, while c'est le mien identifies which one is yours out of several. Both are correct, and à moi is the natural answer to à qui est-ce ?

French grammar · Intermediate

French Possessive Pronouns: Le Mien, La Tienne, Les Nôtres

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

The French possessive pronouns are le mien, le tien, le sien, le nôtre, le vôtre and le leur, plus their feminine and plural forms. They mean mine, yours, his and so on, they always keep their definite article, and they agree with the thing owned rather than with the owner: la mienne for a car, le mien for a bike.

Ta voiture est plus rapide que la mienne.

Your car is faster than mine.

What it is

A possessive pronoun replaces a whole noun phrase: instead of mon vélo you say le mien. Because the noun has disappeared, the pronoun has to carry its gender and number itself, which is why there are four forms for each owner. The article is part of the pronoun and cannot be dropped.

J'ai perdu mes clés, tu as les tiennes ? — I've lost my keys, have you got yours?

How to spot it

Work out the gender and number of the thing owned, not of the person owning it. His car is la sienne because voiture is feminine, and her bike is le sien because vélo is masculine.

Mon frère et le tien se connaissent. — My brother and yours know each other.
Cette maison est la nôtre. — This house is ours.
Ses parents sont plus stricts que les miens. — His parents are stricter than mine.
Prends mon stylo, le tien ne marche plus. — Take my pen, yours doesn't work any more.

Le sien is the trap for English speakers: it means both his and hers, and the form depends entirely on what is owned. Sa voiture becomes la sienne whether the owner is a man or a woman.

Possessive Pronouns Quick Reference

The full set of possessive pronouns

English	Masculine sing.	Feminine sing.	Masculine pl.	Feminine pl.
mine	le mien	la mienne	les miens	les miennes
yours (tu)	le tien	la tienne	les tiens	les tiennes
his, hers, its	le sien	la sienne	les siens	les siennes
ours	le nôtre	la nôtre	les nôtres	les nôtres
yours (vous)	le vôtre	la vôtre	les vôtres	les vôtres
theirs	le leur	la leur	les leurs	les leurs

Common Possessive Pronouns Examples in French

Possessive pronouns in the contexts they actually turn up in:

Comparing Two People's Things

Mon appartement est plus petit que le tien.: My flat is smaller than yours.
Leur jardin est plus grand que le nôtre.: Their garden is bigger than ours.
Ta réponse ressemble à la mienne.: Your answer is like mine.
Nos horaires sont différents des vôtres.: Our hours are different from yours.

Comparison is where these pronouns earn their keep, because repeating the noun would sound clumsy in French as well as in English.

Saying Something Belongs to Someone

Ce parapluie est le mien.: This umbrella is mine.
Ces places sont les nôtres.: These seats are ours.
La faute est la sienne, pas la tienne.: The fault is his, not yours.
Ce n'est pas la mienne.: It isn't mine.

French also has a lighter way of doing this with à: c'est à moi. The pronoun version sounds more emphatic and slightly more formal.

After a Preposition

Je préfère travailler avec les miens.: I'd rather work with my own people.
Il pense au sien plutôt qu'au tien.: He's thinking about his rather than yours.
Nous parlons des nôtres.: We're talking about ours.
Elle s'occupe du sien.: She's looking after hers.

The article contracts with à and de exactly as usual: au mien, aux miens, du sien, des siens.

The Fixed Uses

J'ai passé Noël avec les miens.: I spent Christmas with my family.
À la tienne !: Cheers!
Il défend toujours les siens.: He always sticks up for his own.
Chacun y met du sien.: Everyone does their bit.

Les miens, les tiens and les siens used alone mean my people, your people, his family. À la tienne and à la vôtre are the standard toasts.

How Possessive Pronouns Are Built

Two decisions: who owns it, which sets the stem, and what is owned, which sets the ending and the article.

The Stem Comes From the Owner

Mien for me, tien for you, sien for him, her or it, nôtre for us, vôtre for you plural, leur for them. That is the only part of the pronoun that tells you whose the thing is.

C'est le mien, pas le tien.

It's mine, not yours.

Owner → mien, tien, sien…

The Ending and the Article Come From the Thing Owned

Everything else agrees with the noun that has been replaced. Une valise gives la mienne; des valises gives les miennes; un sac gives le mien.

Sa valise est neuve, la mienne est vieille.

Her suitcase is new, mine is old.

Thing owned → gender and number.

The Article Is Compulsory

Unlike English mine, the French pronoun always includes le, la or les. Saying mien on its own is not possible outside a few frozen literary phrases.

Ce livre ? C'est le sien.

This book? It's his.

Always le, la or les.

Le Sien Ignores the Owner's Gender

French has no his-versus-hers distinction here. Le sien, la sienne, les siens and les siennes all mean his or hers, and only context tells you which.

Marie a pris son sac, et Paul a pris le sien.

Marie took her bag, and Paul took his.

sien = his or hers.

Nôtre and Vôtre Take a Circumflex

The pronoun forms are written le nôtre and le vôtre with an accent, and the vowel is pronounced longer and more closed than in the adjectives notre and votre. It's the only visible difference between them.

Votre maison est plus grande que la nôtre.

Your house is bigger than ours.

Adjective notre, pronoun nôtre.

Common Mistakes with Possessive Pronouns

Incorrect: Ma voiture est plus vieille que le tien. — My car is older than yours.

Correct: Ma voiture est plus vieille que la tienne. — My car is older than yours.

The pronoun agrees with the thing owned, and voiture is feminine. The gender of the person you're addressing has nothing to do with it.

Incorrect: Ce livre est mien. — This book is mine.

Correct: Ce livre est le mien. — This book is mine.

The article is part of the pronoun in modern French. A bare mien survives only in archaic or poetic phrases like un mien cousin.

Incorrect: Paul a pris la sienne valise. — Paul took his suitcase.

Correct: Paul a pris sa valise. — Paul took his suitcase.

A pronoun cannot be followed by the noun it replaces. If the noun is still there, you need the possessive adjective sa.

Incorrect: Notre est plus grande que la vôtre. — Ours is bigger than yours.

Correct: La nôtre est plus grande que la vôtre. — Ours is bigger than yours.

The pronoun form needs both the article and the circumflex. Notre without them is an adjective and has to be followed by a noun.

The Alternatives and the Traps

French has a second way of saying mine, and two forms that are easy to write incorrectly.

C'est à moi as an alternative

To claim ownership of something, French often uses être plus à plus a stressed pronoun instead of a possessive pronoun. It's shorter, more colloquial, and much more frequent in speech.

Ce sac est à moi.: This bag is mine.
À qui est ce manteau ? — À elle.: Whose coat is this? — Hers.
Ces places sont à nous.: These seats are ours.
Ce n'est pas à toi.: It isn't yours.

The two constructions aren't quite interchangeable: c'est le mien identifies which one, while c'est à moi asserts ownership. In a lost-property office you'd hear the second.

The circumflex on nôtre and vôtre

Notre and votre without an accent are adjectives and come before a noun. Nôtre and vôtre with a circumflex are pronouns and come after an article. The accent also changes the vowel sound.

Notre équipe a gagné ; la vôtre a perdu.: Our team won; yours lost.
Vos idées et les nôtres se rejoignent.: Your ideas and ours converge.
À la vôtre !: Your health!
Ce sera le vôtre demain.: It'll be yours tomorrow.

Leur is the exception in this corner of the grammar: the pronoun le leur has no accent and no extra letter, only the article.

Les miens for people, and other fixed phrases

Used on its own in the masculine plural, the pronoun means one's own people or family. A few set expressions also use the singular in an abstract sense.

Je rentre voir les miens en août.: I'm going home to see my family in August.
Les nôtres ont bien joué samedi.: Our side played well on Saturday.
Ils ont invité les leurs aussi.: They invited their own families too.
À la tienne, à la mienne !: Here's to you, here's to me!

These are worth recognising rather than building from scratch, since the singular abstract use is fixed and doesn't extend to new phrases.

Possessive Pronouns FAQs

What are the possessive pronouns in French?: Le mien, le tien, le sien, le nôtre, le vôtre and le leur, each with a feminine and plural form: la mienne, les miens, les miennes, and so on. They mean mine, yours, his or hers, ours, yours and theirs.
Does le sien mean his or hers?: Both. French makes no distinction between a male and a female owner here. Le sien, la sienne, les siens and les siennes all mean his, hers or its, and the form you choose depends only on what is owned: sa maison becomes la sienne for either owner.
Why does the possessive pronoun need an article?: Because the article is part of the pronoun in French. Le mien, la tienne and les leurs are single units, and the article contracts with à and de like any other: au mien, du sien, des nôtres. Only a few archaic phrases drop it.
What's the difference between notre and nôtre?: Notre is the possessive adjective and goes in front of a noun: notre maison. Nôtre with a circumflex is the pronoun and follows an article: la nôtre. The accent also lengthens and closes the vowel, so the two are audibly different.
Can I say c'est à moi instead of c'est le mien?: Yes, and in speech it's more common. C'est à moi asserts that something belongs to you, while c'est le mien identifies which one is yours out of several. Both are correct, and à moi is the natural answer to à qui est-ce ?