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The article is the il in il gatto. When using possessives, the article can be in front of the possessor (in this case, mio) and then the noun follows, or it can be in the form of this sentence. So it may be "Il mio gatto," my cat, or, "Il gatto è mio." Either way, the article is conjugating the noun, and the possessive does not have its own article.
This is confusing to me too. Because there have been sentences that have been marked wrong when I don't have the article in front of the possessive adjective. For example: i cani sono i miei. Is there a rule that applies to plural?
Your explanation above is great, I just am wondering why Duolingo marked my answer incorrect. If the article can go at the beginning of the sentence or before the possessor, does the same rule apply to plural?
Thanks.
I think the article can only go in front of the possessive if the possessive is followed by the noun. so really the article has nothing to do with the possessive - it is only there because it is attached to the noun. But then you add the possessive, which has to slot between the two.
So in your example it would be "i cani sono miei", not "i cani sono i miei" - you shouldn't have the "i" before "miei" because there is no noun following it.
«Il gatto è mio.» is non-contrastive: We're only talking about one cat, and only one person is claiming ownership.
«Il gatto è il mio.» is contrastive: It's the male cat that's mine, not the female cat; or the cat that's mine, not the dog; or the cat we're talking about is the one belonging to me, not to you.
How come "The cat is mine" is "il gatto e mio" but "the horses are mine" is "I cavalli sono i miei" (with the article before miei)? What is the difference? I was marked incorrect previously for responding "I cavalli sono miei".
I cavalli sono miei is correct since article is not required before a possessor if it is not followed by a noun however 'He has my horses' will be translated as 'Lui ha i miei cavalli' since possessor here is followed by noun. This is what Steiner has explained above correctly. Cheers
so "mio" is masculine because of "gatto"? or because whose cat it is? so if I, a female, would say it, would it be incorrect to say "mia"?
The possessive ‘mio’ agrees with the gender and number of the noun ‘gatto’ it modifies, not with the possessor.
‘Il gatto è mio.’ = “The [male] cat is mine.”
‘La gatta è mia.’ = “The [female] cat is mine.”
‘I gatti sono miei.’ = “The [male] cats are mine.”
‘Le gatte sono mie.’ = “The [female] cats are mine.”
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it is mio, because it goes with gato, not with the owner. Mia would go with gata. A man owning a gata would use mia. All romance languages go like that. (very confusing for us norderlings)
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I made a mistake and write ,,iss,, and the corrector said that I used the wrong word I am not from England or USA so can anybody tell me what does ,,iss,, mean?
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You need to give it up I've had about enough It's not hard to see The cat is mine I'm sorry that you Seem to be confused He belongs to me The cat is mine
I tried to write "The ❤❤❤❤❤ is mine" but it told me I was wrong and that quote "The cat is mine".
