# FR: à moi / le mien



## bjankovic

_ That book is mine._
(1) Ce livre est à moi.
(2) Ce livre est le mien.


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## jann

Do you have a question? 

Both sentences are correct and mean the same thing.  They just use different structures to do so.


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## bjankovic

I honestly thought that one would be wrong. I guess you can go ahead and erase this post.


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## jann

bjankovic said:


> I guess you can go ahead and erase this post.


Not at all!  Surely there are many other people who will wonder the same thing as you have, and some will find this thread. 


PS.  Actually, your French sentences are more likely to be used when you want to say "this" book is mine. If you need to be very clear that you mean "that book over there" you should say _ce livre-là_.


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## calembourde

I'm not sure they're exactly the same thing. I would say:

Ce livre est à moi. = This book is mine. (Simply stating that I am the owner of the book.)
Ce livre est le mien. = This book is *my one*. (implying that maybe that other book is your one, or that there are many other books around which aren't mine and I had to identify which one was mine) but then I guess you'd write 'ce livre-ci est le mien'. Perhaps without the '-ci' the two phrases have exactly the same meaning.

Am I right?


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## Grop

I agree I would prefer either phrase depending on context. I think _Ce livre est à moi_ works better in most contexts, but I think _c'est le mien_ is sometimes preferred.

By the way, I think this is typically something that can be said as an answer to a question (as you don't make claims about what you own in most situations), and the choice may depend on how the question is phrased.

_ - À qui est ce livre?
 - À moi.

 - C'est le livre de qui?
 - C'est le mien._


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## jann

Calembourde, you're absolutely right that you could use the two sentences in different contexts, as Grop has described.  The first sentence answers "to whom does this book belong?"  Whereas the second answers, "Whose is this book?"

But the actually meaning (i.e., the reality of the situation) is identical in both cases.  The grammatical structure is the only difference.

_à moi _=> tells us to whom the book belongs
_le mien_ => possessive pronoun, replaces "le livre" entirely in such a way as to demonstrate that the book is mine.

It's confusing translating into English because we don't have a grammatical equivalent for _à moi_.  The pronoun "mine" covers all cases.  In English, we could say "this one is mine" .... but not really "it's my one," because this latter sentence would be reformulated to say "it's mine."


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## calembourde

jann said:


> In English, we could say "this one is mine" .... but not really "it's my one," because this latter sentence would be reformulated to say "it's mine."


I was thinking more, 'This is my one' which wouldn't be reformulated in the appropriate situation. That's why I thought it would be more equivalent to 'ce livre-ci est le mien' than 'ce livre est le mien'.


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## funnyhat

But there _are_ multiple options in English as well:

_It's *my book*._

_It's *mine*._

Also:

_That book *belongs to me*._


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## geostan

*Ce livre est à moi*.  means that there is only one book under discussion.
_*Ce livre est le mien.*_ implies to me that there are at least two books, and I am identifying the one that belongs to me.


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## LeGauloisBrésilien

What about the construction "*Ce livre est à elle*"? My French teacher said it was wrong, and we were supposed to say "*ce livre est le sien*". Was she right? I mistrust her a little bit, cause she was not a grammar expert.


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## Cigaloune

Les deux phrases se disent.
 Les nuances de sens sont les mêmes qu'avec à moi et le mien.


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## Maître Capello

Your teacher is wrong. You can say either, depending on context.



geostan said:


> _*Ce livre est le mien.*_ implies to me that there are at least two books


 No, there may be only a single book.

_Ce livre est à moi / lui / elle_ = This book belongs to me / him / her
_ Ce livre est le mien / sien_ = This book is mine / his/hers


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## Grop

Par ailleurs, je n'imagine pas de situation dans laquelle on voudrait dire _Ce livre est le mien._ Cette formulation me semble absurdement compliquée. Je ne dis pas que ça ne me semble pas grammatical, juste que personne ne dirait ça.


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## Maître Capello

Ça ne me choquerait pas, à condition de remplacer _ce livre_ par le pronom _ce_ :
_
— Ce livre est à Paul.
— Non, c'est le mien._


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