In this lesson, we will talk about the possession in French, how to express it with adjectives and pronouns, and two easy-to-use prepositions , followed by examples.
Possessive Adjectives In French
Possessive adjectives are used to indicate to whom or to what a thing/person belongs:
Mon livre – my book
Every personal pronoun has its matching possessive adjective, and the selection of the adjective depends on the gender of the “owned” thing/person, and they must agree in gender and number:
| Personal Pronouns | Possessive Adjective (Masc) | Poss. Adj. (Fem) | Poss. Adj. (plural) | English |
| je | mon | ma | mes | My |
| tu | ton | ta | tes | Your (singular) |
| il/elle | son | sa | ses | His, her, its |
| nous | notre | notre | nos | Our |
| vous | votre | votre | vos | Your (plural) |
| ils/elles | leur | leur | leurs | Their |
Mon frère – my brother
Mes frères – my brothers
Ton frère – your brother
Tes frères – your brothers
Son frère – his brother
Ses frères – his brothers
Notre frère – our brother
Nos frères – our brothers
Votre frère – your brother (you plural)
Vos frères – your brothers (you plural)
Leur frère – their brother
Leurs frères – their brothers
Leur sœur -their sister
Leurs sœurs – their sisters
Ma sœur – my sister
Mes sœurs – my sisters
Note: If the possessive adjective comes before a vowel, we use the masculine: mon amie – my friend (girl)
Note: you can practice what you’ve learned here, and learn how to pronounce each of the words in our Memrise course here, don’t know how to use the platform or sign up? we’ve got you covered in this easy-to-follow tutorial here.
Possessive Pronouns In French
We use possessive pronouns to avoid the repetition and replace nouns modified by a possessive adjective, so instead of saying “it’s not my book, it’s her book”, we say “it’s not my book, it’s hers“
Every possessive adjective has its equivalent pronoun
| Je > mon/ma > le mien / la mienne | mine |
| Tu > ton/ta > le tien / la tienne | yours |
| il/elle > son/sa > le sien / la sienne | his, hers, its |
| nous > notre > le nôtre / la nôtre | ours |
| vous > votre > le vôtre / la vôtre | yours |
| ils / elle > leur > le leur / la leur | theirs |
And the plural form:
| les miens / les miennes | mine |
| les tiens / les tiennes | yours |
| les siens / les siennes | his, hers, its |
| les nôtres / les nôtres | ours |
| les vôtres / les vôtres | yours |
| les leurs / les leurs | theirs |
Possessive with the prepositions “de” and “à”
Possessive “de”
The preposition de is the equivalent of the English ‘s :
Le livre de Oualid – Oualid’s book
Like we’ve seen in the articles lesson, the preposition de when it comes before le and les, they make du and des
Possessive “à”
The preposition à is used to emphasis the ownership of the object, and it’s usually used in the following forms:
- noun + être + à + stressed pronoun, noun or name
- c’est + à + stressed pronoun, noun or name
Le livre est à Oualid
That was today’s lesson about possession in French.
French Possessive Study Guide
Quiz
- What is the difference between a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun in French?
- Provide the French possessive adjectives for “my” in both masculine and feminine forms.
- How do you say “his book” and “her book” in French? Are the possessive adjectives different?
- Translate the following sentence into French: “Our sisters are tall.”
- When do you use the masculine form of a possessive adjective before a feminine noun?
- What is the French possessive pronoun equivalent of “yours” (singular informal) in both masculine and feminine forms?
- Translate the phrase “Lisa’s cat” into French in two different ways.
- What preposition is used to emphasize ownership in French?
- How would you say “The house belongs to Pierre” in French, emphasizing the ownership?
- Provide the plural forms of the French possessive pronouns for “mine” in both masculine and feminine forms.
Answer Key
- Possessive adjectives modify a noun to show possession (“my book”), while possessive pronouns replace a noun phrase to avoid repetition (“mine”).
- Masculine: mon, Feminine: ma
- “His book”: Son livre, “Her book”: Son livre. The possessive adjective remains the same.
- “Nos soeurs sont grandes.”
- You use the masculine form of a possessive adjective before a feminine noun when the noun begins with a vowel sound.
- Masculine: le tien, Feminine: la tienne
- “Le chat de Lisa” or “Le chat est à Lisa.”
- The preposition “à” is used to emphasize ownership.
- “La maison est à Pierre.”
- Masculine: les miens, Feminine: les miennes
Happy learning
Oualid Cheddadi is a language enthusiast who created Lingualid with the mission to inspire independent language learners worldwide, regardless of the language they are learning. The name “Lingualid” is derived from the Portuguese word for “language,” “língua,” and the last three letters of Oualid’s name, “Lid.”
