his

his [hɪz]

1. possessive adjective

son, sa ses

• his book son livre

• his table sa table

• his friend son ami(e)

• his clothes ses vêtements

• he has broken his leg il s'est cassé la jambe

2. possessive pronoun

le sien, la sienne les siens, les siennes

• my hands are clean, his are dirty mes mains sont propres, les siennes sont sales

• his is a specialized field son domaine est spécialisé

• this book is his ce livre est à lui

► of his

• a friend of his un de ses amis

• it's no fault of his ce n'est pas de sa faute

• that car of his sa fichue (inf) voiture

• that stupid son of his son idiot de fils

• that temper of his son sale caractère

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Note: In French determiners agree in gender and number with the noun they qualify. So his when used as a determiner is translated by son + masculine singular noun (son chien), by sa + feminine singular noun (sa maison) BUT by son + feminine noun beginning with a vowel or mute h (son assiette) and by ses + plural noun (ses enfants)

When his is stressed, à lui is added after the noun: his house = sa maison à lui

For his used with parts of the body

In French possessive pronouns reflect the gender and number of the noun they are standing for. When used as a possessive pronoun his is translated by le sien, la sienne, les siens or les siennes according to what is being referred to

For examples and particular usages see the entry below

[hɪz] 1.

determiner son/sa/ses

2.

pronoun

all the drawings were good but his was the best — tous les dessins étaient bons mais le sien était le meilleur

the blue car is his — la voiture bleue est la sienne, la voiture bleue est à lui

it's not his — ce n'est pas à lui

which house is his? — sa maison c'est laquelle?

I'm a colleague of his — je suis un/-e de ses collègues

that dog of his — péj son sale chien (colloq)

the money was not his to give away — il n'avait pas le droit de donner cet argent

English-French dictionary. 2013.