les adjectifs possessifs
A possessive adjective is a word like my, your, his, her etc. In French possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
BEFORE MASCULINE SINGULAR NOUNS | |||
mon livre | my book | notre livre | our book |
ton livre | your (tu) book | votre livre | your (vous) book |
son livre | his/her book | leur livre | their book |
BEFORE FEMININE SINGULAR NOUNS | |||
ma voiture | my car | notre voiture | our car |
ta voiture | your (tu) car | votre voiture | your (vous) car |
sa voiture | his/her car | leur voiture | their car |
BEFORE ALL PLURAL NOUNS - FEMININE & PLURAL | |||
mes voisin(e)s | my neighbors | nos voisin(e)s | our neighbors |
tes voisin(e)s | your (tu) neighbors | vos voisin(e)s | your (vous) neighbors |
ses voisin(e)S | his/her neighbors | leur voisin(e)s | their neighbors |
The possessive adjectives son, sa, and ses can translate to his, her or its depending on who is in possession of the particular noun.
- Marie aime sa voiture. Marie likes her car.
Pierre aime sa voiture aussi. Pierre likes his car too. - Pierre aime son livre. Pierre likes his book.
Marie aime son livre aussi. Marie likes her book too.
example sentences
Pierre aime son chien. | Pierre likes his dog. |
Marie aime son chien aussi. | Marie likes her dog too. |
Mon père parle français. | My father speaks French |
Ma mère parle français aussi. | My mother also speaks French. |
Je connais tes cousins. | I know your cousins (to somebody you know). |
Je connais vos cousins. | I know your cousins (to somebody you dont know). |
Elle aime sa maison. | She likes her house. |
Il aime sa maison aussi. | I likes his/her house too (depending on context). |
Ses amis habient en France. | His/her friends live in France (depending on context). |
Je joue avec leur chien. | I play with their dog. |
Marc et Marie aiment leurs chiens. | Mark and Marie like their dogs. |
Où est ton hôtel? | Where is your hotel? |
Ton ami est très sympathique. | Your friend (male friend) is very nice. |
Ton amie est très sympathique aussi. | Your friend (female friend) is also very nice. |
Voici mon adresse. | Here is my address. |
The masculine forms mon, ton and son must go before a feminine noun starting with a vowel.
- mon école
- ton hotel
- son adresse
For ami always use son, even when talking about a female friend. Here the masculine son is acting like a liason.
- J’aime son ami. I like his (male) freind.
- J’aime son amie aussi. I like his (female) friend too.
Practice Exercises
Speed up your learning with an app
Many of our students have greatly enhanced their learning by using an app. On these pages we've examined the top-30 apps for learning French. On this pages we've written comprehensive reviews for Pimsleur (great for people struggling with pronunciation), Rosetta Stone and FrenchPod101 (both great for visual learners).
- laits.utexas.edu
- tolearnfrench.com
- bbc.co.uk
- quizlet.com (flashcards)
- uquebec.ca (PDF)
Related Lessons
- Possessive Pronouns (le mien, le tien, etc.)
- Demonstrative Pronouns
- Stressed Pronouns
- Personal Pronouns
- Demonstrative Adjectives
If you've found this post useful you might want to considering looking at our post covering the best apps for learning French. We've looked a total 33 apps and have written comprehensive reviews of Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur and FrenchPod101.
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