Possessive pronouns

Jemma

Jemma

August 19, 2016

Hi,

Does "I suoi pantaloni" mean Her pants or His pants?
I understand that I suoi is a possessive pronoun for "His (Male)", so when i see this phrase it is intuitive to me that this means His pants. However, "Pantalone (Singular, Masculine noun)", so is the use of "I suoi" due to the subject's possession- pants, or is it due to the gender of the noun- pantalone?

Grazie
Lucia - Rocket Languages Tutor

Lucia - Rocket Languages Tutor

August 19, 2016

Hi Rachelyeo,

It can mean both, since "his" and "her" are both translated as "suo/sua/suoi/sue". It doesn't have anything to do with the gender of the noun. The subject is usually implied by the context. When the context is missing, like here, it's not possible to know if the subject is male or female.

Hope this helps!

Lucia

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