my, your, his, her, our, their.
Possessive adjectives are words
which tell you who something or
someone belongs to e.g my coat,
your pen, his book, our cat and
their house.
In English we only have one form for
each person; my, your, his, her, our,
their.
But in French it’s a bit more
complicated…
In French, there are 3 different
words for MY - mon, ma and mes.
You will know which one to use
depending on the gender of the
person or thing that you are
talking about:
e.g. Mon père
my dad
Ma mère
my mum
Mes parents my parents
Mon is used when the noun is masculine.
Ma is used when the noun is feminine.
Mes is used when the noun is plural.
e.g. Mon livre
Ma trousse
Mes affaires
my book
my pencilcase
my things
Now try these examples. Fill in the
blanks with the correct word for
MY (mon/ma/mes)
mon frère.
1. ..........
ma sœur.
2. ..........
Now check
mes cousins.
3. ..........
your answers.
ma tante.
4. ..........
mon oncle.
5. ..........
mes grands-parents.
6. ..........
ma nièce.
7. ..........
mon mari.
8. ..........
Did you get 8 out of 8?
So far it’s easy peasy, isn’t it?
The hardest part is knowing
the gender of each noun, but
remember, the plurals are
easy to spot, just look for
nouns ending in –s!
Just to clarify…
The possessive adjective always agrees with the
NOUN, not the person that it belongs to.
In other words, a man would say mon livre,
and a woman would also say mon livre
because the book is masculine (le livre).
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.
The word for YOUR follows the
same pattern - ton, ta and tes.
e.g. Ton père
Ta mère
Tes parents
your dad
your mum
your parents
And so does the word for HIS or
HER or ITS - son, sa and ses.
e.g. Son père his/her/its dad
Sa mère
his/her/its mum
Ses parents
his/her/its parents
Note that unlike in English, there are not
separate words for ‘his’, ‘hers, and ‘its’.
This can seem confusing for example, son lit can
mean his bed, her bed, or its bed (e.g., the dog's).
You can usually figure out who it belongs to by the
context.
Before a vowel or a silent h



mon, ton or son are also used before a
feminine word starting with a vowel or
silent h.
Une amie (feminine singular)
Mon amie arrive à dix heures
(My friend's coming at 10)
Une histoire (feminine singular)
Ton histoire est amusante
(Your story is funny)
Copy this table into your jotter.
MY
YOUR
(TU)
HIS
HER
ITS
MASC.
(UN-LE)
MON
FEM.
(UNE-LA)
MA
PLURAL
(LES)
MES
TON
TA
TES
SON
SA
SES
Let’s try some more examples.
Write the correct form of the possessive
adjectives (use the table to guide you)
e.g. le chapeau > (your) ton
........ chapeau.
mes lunettes.
1. les lunettes > (my) .........
sa jupe.
2. la jupe > (her) ........
tes sandwiches.
3. les sandwiches > (your) .........
sa voiture.
4. la voiture > (his) ........
mon livre
5. le livre > (my) ........
ses cahiers.
6. les cahiers > (his) ........
ta gomme.
7. la gomme > (your) ........
son armoire.
8. la armoire > (her) ........
How did you do this time?
Watch out for those vowels!
Would you have managed to
complete those without being
told the gender of each noun?
Let’s give it a try…
The following people are bringing friends and
relatives to a party. Who are they bringing?
Follow the example.
e.g. J’invite ____ cousin.
J’invite MON cousin.
. .........
ta sœur.
1. Tu invites
sa mère.
2. Il invite ........
son copain Paul.
3. Elle invite .........
mes parents.
4. J’invite ........
5. Susan invite son
........ frère.
ta cousine.
6. Tu invites ........
7. Greg invite ses
........ amis.
ma tante.
8. J’invite ........
9. Tu invites tes
…… copines.
ses frères.
10. Jason invite ……..
Getting the hang of it?
Good!
Now there’s just a few more
possessive adjectives we
need to go over, but these
are easier still!
In French, there are 2 different
words for OUR - notre and nos.
e.g. Notre père
Notre mère
Nos parents
our dad
our mum
our parents
Notre is used when the noun is
either masculine OR feminine.
Nos is used when the noun is plural.
In French, there are 2 different
words for YOUR when you are talking
to more than one person or someone
you don’t know - votre and vos.
e.g. Votre père
Votre mère
Vos parents
your dad
your mum
your parents
Votre is used when the noun is either
masculine OR feminine.
Vos is used when the noun is plural.
And, there are 2 different words for
THEIR - leur and leurs.
e.g. Leur père
their dad
Leur mère
their mum
Leurs parents their parents
Leur is used when the noun is either
masculine OR feminine.
Leurs is used when the noun is plural.
Copy this table into your jotter.
OUR
YOUR
(VOUS)
THEIR
MASC.
(UN-LE)
NOTRE
FEM.
(UNE-LA)
NOTRE
PLURAL
(LES)
NOS
VOTRE
VOTRE
VOS
LEUR
LEUR
LEURS
Now try these examples. Fill in the blanks
with the correct word for OUR, YOUR or
THEIR.
nos professeurs.
1. Nous écoutons ……….
leur examen.
2. Ils ont échoué ……….
vos cravates.
3. Vous portez ……….
leur cousin.
4. Elles adorent ……….
notre père.
5. Nous parlons à ..........
votre journal.
6. Vous lisez ..........
leursdevoirs.
7. Ils font ……….
8. Aimez-vous votre
………. voiture?
leurs photos.
9. Jack et Jill ont perdu ………..
10. Carole et moi partageons notre
………. chambre.
Ok, 1 last exercise, this time using all the
possessive adjectives you have learnt.
Complete the following sentences. Then rewrite them in the plural
J’ai une gomme. C’est ma gomme. Ce sont
mes gommes.
1. Tu as une carte de crédit. C’est ___ carte
de crédit.
2. Il a un billet de train. C’est ___ billet de
train.
3. Nous avons une valise. C’est ___ valise.
4. Vous avez un visa. C’est ___ visa.
5. Elles ont une passeport. C’est ___
passeport.
For more on possessive and
demonstrative adjectives click….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/frenc
h/activities/grammar/adjectives2.shtml
or
http://classtools.net/widgets/quiz_1/ed8RR.htm