Possessive pronouns - PRONOUNS - Easy Learning Italian Grammar

Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)

PRONOUNS

3. Possessive pronouns

What is a possessive pronoun?

In English the possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs. you use them instead of a possessive adjective followed by a noun. For example, instead of saying My bag is the blue one, you say Mine’s the blue one.

Here are the Italian possessive pronouns; they are exactly the same as Italian possessive adjectives, but with the definite article in front of them.

For more information on Possessive adjectives and the Definite article, see pages 34 and 11.

Singular

Plural

Meaning

Masculine

Feminine

Masculine

Feminine

il mio

la mia

i miei

le mie

mine

il tuo

la tua

i tuoi

le tue

yours (familiar)

il suo

la sua

i suoi

le sue

his, hers, yours (polite)

il nostro

la nostra

i nostri

le nostre

ours

il vostro

la vostra

i vostri

le vostre

yours

il loro

la loro

i loro

le loro

theirs

Tip

There are three ways of saying yours, because there are three words for youtu, lei and voi.

Questa borsa non è la mia, è la tua.

This bag’s not mine, it’s yours.

Non è il mio, è il suo, signore.

It’s not mine, it’s yours, sir.

La nostra casa è piccola, la vostra è grande.

Our house is small, yours is big.

I miei genitori e i suoi si conoscono.

My parents and hers know each other.

Note that i miei, i tuoi and i suoi are used to refer to someone’s parents.

Vivo con i miei.

I live with my parents.

Cosa hanno detto i tuoi?

What did your parents say?

Lucia è venuta con i suoi.

Lucia came with her parents.

In Italian, possessive pronouns agree with the noun they’re used instead of. For example, il mio can only be used to refer to a masculine singular noun.

Key points

Italian possessive pronouns are the same as Italian possessive adjectives.

They are masculine or feminine, singular or plural, depending on what they refer to.