Les Adjectifs possessifs
J.Mulwa
Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to
whom or to what something belongs. French possessive adjectives are used
similarly to English possessive adjectives, but there are some differences in form.
1) French has many more possessives than English, because there are different
forms not only for grammatical person and number, but sometimes also the gender
and the first letter of the thing possessed. All of the different forms are summarized
in the table at the bottom of the page and are explained in detail in the other pages
of this lesson.
2) When describing two or more nouns in French, a possessive adjective must be
used in front of each one:
son frère et sa sœur
his brother and sister
notre tante et notre oncle
our aunt and uncle
3) 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).
Singular
Plural
Masculine Feminine Before vowel
English
my
mon
ma
mon
mes
your (tu form)
ton
ta
ton
tes
his, her, its
son
sa
son
ses
notre
notre
notre
nos
our
your (vous form) votre
votre
votre
vos
their
leur
leur
leur
leurs
French has three forms of the possessive for each singular grammatical
person (I, you, he/she/it). The gender, number, and first letter of the noun
possessed determine which form to use.
MY
mon (masculine singular) mon stylo - "my pen"
ma (feminine singular) ma montre - "my watch"
mes (plural) mes livres - "my books"
When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive is
used, to avoid saying "ma amie", in which the flow of the sentence would be
broken.
mon amie - "my (female) friend"
YOUR (tu form)
ton (masculine singular) ton stylo - "your pen"
ta (feminine singular) ta montre - "your watch"
tes (plural) tes livres - "your books"
When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive is
used:
ton amie - "your (female) friend"
HIS / HER / ITS
son (masculine singular) son stylo - "his, her, its pen"
sa (feminine singular) sa montre - "his, her, its watch"
ses (plural) ses livres - "his, her, its books"
When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive is
used:
son amie - "his, her, its (female) friend"
Note: An important difference between French and English is that in
French it is the gender of the noun that determines which form to use, not the
gender of the subject. A man would say mon livre when talking about a book, and
a woman would also say mon livre - the book is masculine, and therefore so is the
possessive adjective, no matter who the book belongs to. Likewise, both men and
women would say ma maison, because house is feminine in French - it doesn't
matter whether the owner of the house is male or female.
This difference between English and French possessive adjectives can
be particularly confusing when talking about him/her/it. Son, sa, and ses can each
mean his, her, or its depending on the context. For example, son lit can mean his
bed, her bed, or its bed (e.g., the dog's). If you need to stress the gender of the
person the item belongs to, you can use à lui ("belonging to him") or à elle
("belonging to her"):
C'est son livre, à elle. It's her book.
Voici sa monnaie, à lui. Here's his change.
For plural subjects (we, you, and they), French possessive adjectives are
far simpler. There are only two forms for each grammatical person: singular and
plural.
OUR
notre (singular) notre stylo - "our pen"
nos (plural) nos montres - "our watches"
YOUR (vous form)
votre (singular) votre stylo - "your pen"
vos (plural) vos montres - "your watches"
THEIR
leur (singular) leur stylo - "their pen"
leurs (plural) leurs montres - "their watches”
EXERCICE
(1)Ils ont acheté _____ maison il y a deux ans.(leur/leure/leurs/leures)
(2) Quel est _____ restaurant préféré ?(votre/votres/vos)
(3)Il a partagé _____ idée hier.( son/ sa /ses)
(4)Vous devez faire _____ devoirs. (votre /votres /vos)
(5)____ artiste préférée s'appelle Marianne.( Mon /Ma /Mes)
(6)Quand est-ce que _____ amie va arriver ?( ton /ta /tes)
(7)Jean et Sylvie aiment _____ voiture. (leur /leurs /leure /leures)
(8)Combien de _____ enfants habitent en France ?( leur /leurs /leure /leures)
(9)_____ amis sont très sympa.( Leur /Leurs /Leure /Leures)
(10Henri aime beaucoup _____ femme. (son /sa /ses)
(11)David a présenté _____ père et _____ mère. (son, son /son, sa /sa, son /sa, sa)
(12)Sarah, cherche _____ frère. (ton /ta /tes)
(13)Il a partagé _____ idée hier. (son /sa /ses)
(14)Nous avons oublié _____ parapluie.( notre /notres /nos)
(15)_____ parents détestent conduire. (Mon /Ma /Mes)
(16)J'ai perdu _____ clés. (mon /ma /mes)
(17)Où sont _____ livres ?( votre /votres /vos)
(18)Où se trouve _____ livre ? (son /sa /ses)
(19)Voici _____ stylos.( notre /notres /nos)
(20)Nicolas, _____ soeur est très intelligente. (ton /ta /tes)