Possessive pronouns - Easy Learning Grammar Italian
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 Possessive adjectives
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 |
TipThere are three ways of saying yours, because there are three words for you – tu, 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
PreviousNext - Italian possessive pronouns are the same as Italian possessive adjectives.
- They are masculine or feminine, singular or plural, depending on what they refer to.