Adjectifs possessifs - Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to whom or to what
something belongs. Their usage is similar to English, but there are some differences in form.
The following table shows the forms of French possessives. Don't worry - I'll explain them all
below.
English
Masculine Feminine Before vowel Plural
my
mon
ma
mon
mes
your (sing., fam.)
ton
ta
ton
tes
his, her, its
son
sa
son
ses
our
notre
notre
notre
nos
your (plur., form)
votre
votre
votre
vos
their
leur
leur
leur
leurs
As you can see, French has many more possessives than English. For singular subjects (I, you,
he/she/it), there are three forms of the possessive. The gender, number, and first letter of the
noun possessed determine which form to use.
MY
YOUR
HIS, HER, ITS
masc: pen
mon stylo
ton stylo
son stylo
fem: watch
ma montre
ta montre sa montre
vowel: friend
mon amie
ton amie
plural: brothers mes frères
son amie
tes frères ses frères
When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive is used in order to keep
from saying something like ma amie, where the flow of the sentence would be broken.
An important difference between French and English is that it is the gender of the noun that
determines which form to use, not the gender of the subject. This is particularly difficult when
talking about him/her/it. Son, sa, and ses can each mean his, her, or its depending on the
context.
son lit can mean his bed, her bed, or its bed (e.g., the dog's)
When describing two or more nouns, a possessive adjective must be used in front of each one
his brother and sister = son frère et sa soeur
Plural subjects (we, you, they) have only two forms: singular and plural.
OUR
YOUR
THEIR
masc: pen
notre stylo
votre stylo
leur stylo
fem: watch
notre montre
votre montre
leur montre
vos amis
leurs amis
plural: friends nos amis
Note: the possessive adjective is almost never used with body parts in French. You can't say
'my hand' or 'my hair.' Instead, the French use pronominal verbs to show possession with body
parts:
Je me suis cassé la jambe - I broke my leg (literally, I broke the leg of myself).
Il se lave les cheveux - He's washing his hair (literally, He washes the hair of himself).
French Demonstrative Adjectives
Adjectifs démonstratifs
Demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) are words which indicate a specific noun.
In French, they must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify:
singular
plural
masculine ce / cet
ces
feminine
ces
cette

Ce becomes cet in front of a masculine noun that begins with a vowel or mute h.

Ces is the only plural demonstrative adjective: "cettes" does not exist.
Ce prof parle trop.
This (That) teacher talks too much.
Cet homme est sympa.
This (That) man is nice.
Cet étudiant comprend.
This (That) student understands.
Cette fille est perdue.
This (That) girl is lost.
Ces livres sont stupides.
These (Those) books are stupid.
The singular demonstrative adjectives ce, cet, and cette can all mean this or that, depending
on the context; the plural ces can mean these or those. In order to distinguish between this
and that, these and those, you can use the suffixes -ci (here) and -là (there).
Ce prof-ci parle trop.
This teacher talks too much.
Ce prof-là est sympa.
That teacher is nice.
Cet étudiant-ci comprend.
This student understands.
Cette fille-là est perdue.
That girl is lost.
Ces fleurs-ci sont plus jolies que ces fleurs-là. These flowers are prettier than those flowers.
1. Where is her book? Où se trouve
livre ?
2. I'd like to introduce you to my father and mother. Je te présente
3. Here are our pens. Voici
père et
mère.
stylos.
4. Sarah, go look for your brother. Sarah, cherche
5. Their friends are very nice.
6. His sister is really smart.
frère.
amis sont très sympas.
soeur est très intelligente.
7. What is your (plural) favorite restaurant? Quel est
8. I lost his keys. J'ai perdu
restaurant préféré ?
clés.
9. She likes their car. Elle aime
voiture.
10. My parents hate to drive.
parents détestent conduire.
Test your understanding of demonstrative adjectives and suffixes by choosing the correct answer for each of
the following. Feel free to look back at the lesson.
1. école
ce
cet
2. that person
cette
ce personne-ci
3. parents
ce
cet
4. this jacket
ce personne-là
cette
cet anorak-ci
5. ami
ce
cet
6. these apples
cette
cette personne-là
cette anorak-là
ces
ces pommes-ci
ces pommes-là
ces
ces maisons-là
ce
cet
cette
10. that dictionnary
ce dictionnaire-ci
cette anorak-ci
cettes pommes-là
cette
ces maisons-ci
9. livre
cette personne-ci
ces
cet anorak-là
cettes pommes-ci
7. frères
ce
cet
8. those houses
ces
cettes maisons-ci
cettes maisons-là
ces
ce dictionnaire-là
cet dictionnaire-ci
cette dictionnaire-là