"To choose one's dog"

Translation: Choisir son chien

[varunk]

Can someone explain this translation?

[Arjofocolovi]

Well it would be better if you pointed out what's bothering you first. The English expressions using "one" to refer as "someone, but no one in particular" usually have no equivalent in French.
We can use "on" instead, but it can't be done in this particular sentence, so we don't use any pronoun.

Here is an example for each situation :

• "One would think it's enough, but no." = "On penserait que c'est suffisant, mais non."
• "One has to help himself quickly" = "Il faut se servir rapidement."

[varunk]

I see. Thanks! So "son" here is not coming from third person possessive, but rather the possessive form of "on"?

[Arjofocolovi]

"on" is actually part of the third person singular :). There is "il", "elle" and "on".

So yes, "son" is the third person possessive.

[Michael_Greyjoy]

I wrote "choisir le chien de soi." Is that completely wrong or is that actually the correct way of saying "to choose the dog of oneself," which is the wrong translation?

[Arjofocolovi]

Sorry, but "choisir le chien de soi" is not proper French. Did you see my previous comments on the matter ? I tried to explain it the best I could, let me know if you have other questions about it.

[mickeytgl]

Can someone tell me if "Pour choisir le chien d'un même" is wrong and why would it be wrong?

[Arjofocolovi]

Yes it's not correct French, because "même" is not a noun.

Two correct alternatives to your sentence could be :

"Pour choisir son chien" = "To choose one's dog." OR "To choose his/her dog."

"Pour choisir le chien d'un <insert your noun here>" = "To choose <insert your noun here>'s dog."

For example : neighbor, man...etc

[mickeytgl]

Thank you, that's very helpful :)