Bonjour à tous ! Dans cette leçon, nous allons apprendre les adjectifs possessifs en français. In this lesson, we are going to learn about French possessive adjectives.
French possessive adjectives – Écouter
What are possessive adjectives?
Possessive adjectives give information about possession, gender, number and person (the possessor). In English, they are :
- My
- Your
- His / her
- Our
- Your
- Their
French possessive adjectives work in a different way. While English possessive adjectives give information about the person who possesses (a.k.a the possessor), French possessive adjectives will give information about the possessor but also the noun following (a.k.a the noun that is being possessed).
Let’s dive in a little deeper.
How to use French possessive adjectives
Mon chat / Ma maison
(My cat / My house)
Since there is no noun gender distinction in English, this is how I can explain it to you.
My:
For “my”, you are going to use:
“Mon” before a singular masculine noun or a singular noun starting with a vowel. –> Mon chien (My dog)
“Ma” before a singular feminine noun, starting with a consonant. –> Ma voiture (My car)
“Mes” before a plural noun, regardless of the gender or first letter. –> Mes chats / Mes voitures (My cats / My cars)
Your:
For “your”, you are going to use:
“Ton” before a singular masculine noun or a singular noun starting with a vowel. –> Ton frère / Ton amie (Your brother / your female friend)
“Ta” before a singular feminine noun, starting with a consonant. –> Ta mère (Your mother)
“Tes” before a plural noun, regardless of the gender or first letter. –> Tes enfants (Your children)
His / her:
For “his/her”, there is no gender distinction for the possessor, but for the noun.
“Son” before a singular masculine noun or a singular noun starting with a vowel. –> Son fils (His / her son)
“Sa” before a singular feminine noun, starting with a consonant. –> Sa maison (His / her house)
“Ses” before a plural noun, regardless of the gender or first letter. –> Ses chaussures (His / her shoes)
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Our:
For “our”, there is no gender distinction for the noun.
“Notre” before a singular noun, regardless of the gender. –> Notre fils / Notre fille (Our son / our daughter)
“Nos” before a plural noun. –> Nos enfants (Our children)
Your (plural/formal):
For “your”, it’s the same rule.
“Votre” before a singular noun, regardless of the gender. –> Votre mère / Votre père (Your mother / Your father)
“Vos” before a plural noun. –> Vos parents (Your parents)
Their:
For “their”, it’s the same rule.
“Leur” before a singular noun, regardless of the gender. –> Leur ami (Their male friend)
“Leurs” before a plural noun. –> Leurs amis (Their friends)
How to remember them
Possesseur | Possessif | English | ||
| Singulier | Pluriel |
| |
Singulier | Masculin | Féminin |
|
|
| Mon | Ma | Mes | My |
| Ton | Ta | Tes | Your |
| Son | Sa | Ses | His / her |
Pluriel | Notre | Nos | Our | |
| Votre | Vos | Your | |
| Leur | Leurs | Their | |
