Grammaire 1: adjectifs possessifs
On étudie !
One can indicate ownership or associations and relationships with possessive adjectives (les adjectifs possessifs), the equivalent of ”my”, ”our”, etc.
Possessive adjectives are used before the noun, much like an article, and must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify, like any article or adjective in French. Thus, if the noun is feminine, the possessive adjective must be feminine. For example, the feminine noun famille requires a feminine form. This is radically different from the English language which has possessive adjective agrees with the subject (his sister, her brother).
C’est mon livre. (It’s my book.)
C’est ta classe. (It’s your class.)
C’est ma famille. (It’s my family.)
Ce sont mes cousins. (They are my cousins.)
Structure : Adjectifs possessifs
| Pronoms sujets | Masculin singulier | Féminin singulier | Pluriel | Anglais |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | mon* | ma | mes | my |
| tu (familier singulier) | ton* | ta | tes | your |
| il, elle, on | son* | sa | ses | his or her or its |
| nous | notre | notre | nos | our |
| vous (1 personne formelle ou pluriel) | votre | votre | vos | your |
| ils, elles | leur | leur | leurs | their |
*mon, ton, son is used with feminine singular nouns starting with a vowel or h to help pronunciation (see examples in notes (c) and (d) below).
Important notes:
(a) Possessive adjectives are always placed before the nouns they modify, just like in English:
mon oncle (my uncle)
notre famille (our family)
(b) The choice of son, sa and ses depends on the gender and number of the nouns possessed, not the gender and number of the possessor or owner as it is the case in English.
son frère (his, her brother)
sa sœur (his, her sister)
ses parents (his, her parents)
*Context will clarify who the possessor or owner is. For example, son means two different things in the following sentences:
Oui, elle a son livre. (Yes, she has her book.)
Non, il n’a pas son livre. (No, he doesn’t have his book.)
(c) When a feminine singular noun starts with a vowel or silent h you must use the masculine mon, ton, and son (this is simply for pronunciation reasons, to avoid two vowels together):
Elle est monnamie. (She is my friend.) [amie is feminine, but begins with a vowel]
But we would say:
Ma meilleure amie Julie. (My best friend Julie).
Tonnécriture est jolie. (Your writing is nice.) [écriture is feminine, but begins with a vowel]
(d) Liaisons occur when mon, ton, son and with all plural forms when followed by a vowel.
monnami (my friend)
tonnami (your friend)
sonnami (his/her friend)
meszamis (my friends)
noszamis (our friends), etc.
Memorize with the help of this YouTube song: Mon Ma Mes !
For an overview of possession in French visite the following sites:
