possessive pronoun

Megan H.C1Kwiziq community member

possessive pronoun

Hi.

How come 'croire ses yeux' but 'faire les ongles'? I thought that it should be 'croire les yeux' as possessive pronouns should not be used for parts of the body.

Thanks

Megan

This question relates to:French writing exercise "Beatrice's baby shower"

Freeform Writing Exercise B1

Asked 5 years ago

Like0Answer2

CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi Megan,

The use of the definite article for parts of the body is used with reflexive verbs, so 'se faire faire les ongles' is correct.

Ne pas en croire ses yeux = not to believe your eyes

is an idiomatic expression and this is just the way we say it and

l'exception qui confirme la règle!

Like25 years ago

Chris W.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Take it as idiomatic. I don't have a better explanation.

Like15 years ago

Megan H. asked: