Possessive pronouns (mine, ours)
Masc. sg.: le mien, le tien, le sien, le nôtre, le vôtre, le leur
Fem. sg.: la mienne, la tienne, la sienne, la nôtre, la vôtre, la leur
Masc. pl.: les miens, les tiens, les siens, les nôtres, les vôtres, les leurs
Fem. pl.: les miennes, les tiennes, les siennes, les nôtres, les vôtres, les leurs
Ex: tu pensais que tu avais pris tes lunettes mais c'étaient les miennes - you thought you had taken your glasses but they were mine
They replace demonstrative determiners followed by a noun
They can be one of three types: prepositional (c'est celle de Laure - it's Laure's), relative (les robes en soie sont celles que je préfère - silk dresses are the ones I prefer), or nominal (j'ajoute à cette lettre celle de mon fils - I add to this letter the one of my son).
Singular - celui (m), celle (f): celle en bleu - the blue one
Plural - ceux (m), celles (f): ceux-là sont mieux - those are better
Neutral - ceci - this (rare), cela - that, ça - this (short for cela): ça ira - that will be fine, c’/ce*: c’est un chien - this is a dog, ce sont des chats - those are cats
N.B. Adverbial particles -ci (short for ici) and -là are added to indicate the distance. Celui-ci means this one (close), celles-là those ones (far away).
*Do not mix up the masculine singular demonstrative determiner ce that is followed by a singular masculine noun (ce chat est blanc - this cat is white) and the demonstrative pronoun ce that is followed by est/sont (is/are) or a relative pronoun (c'est ce qu'il m'a dit - that is what he told me; ce sont les chaussures qu'il a choisies - those are the shoes he chose)
N.B. C'est is used with a noun: c'est un gentil garçon - he's a nice boy, an adverb: c'est si joli - it's so pretty, or a masculine singular adjective when talking about a situation or activity: c'est facile - it's easy. Il/Elle est is used with adjectives when talking about living beings or things: elle est grande - she's tall, in expressions: il était une fois - there one was, before a past participle: elle est partie - she's gone.
Relative pronouns represent the nouns placed in front of them
subject (qui), when talking about living beings or things and describing them, placed before a verb: la fille qui porte un pull rouge aime la glace - the girl that is wearing a red jumper likes ice cream
indirect object (qui), when talking about people, after a preposition, placed before either a determiner and a noun or a pronoun (la fille à qui tu as parlé aime la glace - the girl you talked to likes ice cream)
direct object (que), when talking about living beings or things, placed before either a determiner and a noun or a pronoun (la fille que tu aimes aime la glace - the girl you love likes ice cream)
object, when talking about things, often vague (something, nothing): c’est ce à quoi j’ai pensé toute la journée - that is what I thought about all day long
possessive phrase (complément de nom): je bois dans une tasse dont la anse est cassée - I’m drinking from a mug that has a broken handle
indirect object, equivalent of "of which": le livre dont je t’ai parlé est sorti - the book I told you about is out
adjective object: les filles sont allées à un concert de Rihanna, dont elles sont fan: the girls have gone to a Rihana’s concert, whom they are fans of
adverbial phrase of place: la chambre où je dors est la plus grande de la maison - the room I sleep in is the biggest in the house
adverbial place of time: septembre est le mois où je suis née - September is the month in which I was born
Compound relative pronouns
Auquel, duquel, lequel (marriage of prepositions à, de, le and of simple relative pronouns)
subject - rare, literary: j’ai appelé ma mère, laquelle m’a informée de ton accident - I called my mum who told me about your accident)
object, about things or animals: les chaises sous lesquelles je suis cachée sont en bois - the chairs under which I am hidden are made of wood; c’est l’endroit duquel il est parti - this is the place from which he left; les hommes auxquels elle parle sont allemands - the men she is talking to are German
Neutral relative pronouns
They are built by adding ce, which can be roughly translated as "the thing", to dont, que, qui and used when the antecedent isn't mentioned or when it's a clause often after a comma.
Ce qui is the subject of the verb that follow: je ne sais pas ce qui est tombé - I don’t know what fell down (word by word I don't know the thing that has fallen), j’ai eu un accident, ce qui explique pourquoi je suis en retard - I got in an accident, which explains why I’m late
Ce que or ce qu' is used as a direct object and is generally followed by a subject and a verb: ce que je te demande, c’est d’être à l’heure - what I’m asking you is to be on time (word by word the thing that I ask of you it is to be on time), c’est ce que je voulais dire - that’s what I meant
Ce dont is used as the preposition de’s object: ce dont j’ai peur, c’est qu’il revienne - what I'm afraid of is that he will come back (word by word the thing of which I'm afraid, it is that he comes back), c’est précisément ce dont je veux te parler - that is precisely what I want to talk to you about
N.B. To stress a point, we can use ce qui/que/dont + c’est/ce sont: ce qui me plaît le plus, c’est ta robe - what I most like is your dress.
Movie: Pierrot le fou - Jean-Paul Godard, 1965
