French Possessive Adjectives - Adjectifs possessifs

Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to whom or to
what something belongs. Their usage is similar to English, but there are some differences
in form.

The following table shows the forms of French possessives.

Masculine Feminine Before vowel Plural

English
my mon ma mon mes
your (sing., fam.) ton ta ton tes
his, her, its son sa son ses
our notre notre notre nos
your (plur., form) votre votre votre vos
their leur leur leur leurs

As you can see, French has many more possessives than English. For singular subjects (I,
you, he/she/it), there are three forms of the possessive. The gender, number, and first
letter of the noun possessed determine which form to use.

MY YOUR HIS, HER, ITS

masc: pen mon stylo ton stylo son stylo
fem: watch ma montre ta montre sa montre
vowel: friend mon amie ton amie son amie
plural:
mes frères tes frères ses frères
brothers

When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive is used in order to
keep from saying something like ma amie, where the flow of the sentence would be broken.

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. This is
particularly difficult when talking about him/her/it. Son, sa, and ses can each mean his, her,
or its depending on the context.

son lit can mean his bed, her bed, or its bed (e.g., the dog's)

When describing two or more nouns, a possessive adjective must be used in front of each
one

his brother and sister = son frère et sa soeur

Plural subjects (we, you, they) have only two forms: singular and plural.

OUR YOUR THEIR

masc: pen notre stylo votre stylo leur stylo
fem: watch notre montre votre montre leur montre
plural: friends nos amis vos amis leurs amis

Note: 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).

French Possessive Adjectives - Adjectifs possessifs

Test
Test your understanding of possessive adjectives with the following quiz. Feel free to look
back at the lesson.

1. Where is her book? Où se trouve livre ?

2. I'd like to introduce you to my father and mother. Je te présente père et

mère.

3. Here are our pens. Voici stylos.

4. Sarah, go look for your brother. Sarah, cherche frère.

5. Their friends are very nice. amis sont très sympa.

6. His sister is really smart. soeur est très intelligente.

7. What is your (plural) favorite restaurant? Quel est restaurant préféré ?

8. I lost his keys. J'ai perdu clés.

9. She likes their car. Elle aime bien voiture.

10. My parents hate to drive. parents détestent conduire.