In this lesson, we cover possessive adjectives and pronouns in French.
Possessive adjectives (my, your, his/her, our, their) come before a noun, e.g., “This is my house.” On the other hand, possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his/hers, ours, theirs) are used to replace a noun and its possessive adjective, e.g., “This house is mine.”
In French, possessive adjectives and pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
Possessive Adjectives
The possessive adjectives are:
| Sing. Masc. | Sing. Fem. | Plural Masc. | Plural Fem. | |
| my | mon | ma | mes | |
| your (informal singular) | ton | ta | tes | |
| his/her | son | sa | ses | |
| our | notre | nos | ||
| your (plural or formal singular) | votre | vos | ||
| their | leur | leurs | ||
The Possessive Pronouns
The possessive pronouns in French are:
| Sing. Masc. | Sing. Fem. | Plural Masc. | Plural Fem. | |
| mine | le mien | la mienne | les miens | les miennes |
| yours (informal singular) | le tien | la tienne | les tiens | les tiennes |
| his/hers | le sien | la sienne | les siens | les siennes |
| ours | le nôtre | la nôtre | les nôtres | |
| yours (plural or formal singular) | le vôtre | la vôtre | les vôtres | |
| theirs | le leur | la leur | les leurs | |
Singular Feminine Nouns Starting with a Vowel or a Mute “h”
Note that the masculine form “mon,” “ton,” or “son” is used before a singular feminine noun that starts with a vowel or a mute “h,” e.g., “mon armoiref” (my cabinet), “son horlogef” (his clock), etc.
Agreement with the Noun
Note that, unlike in English, the possessive adjective agrees in number and gender with the noun it describes and not the possessor, e.g., “mes frères” (my brothers).
Note that we use “mes” because the noun we describe is plural, although the possessor is singular.
Similarly, in the example “sa mère” (his/her mother), the possessive adjective “sa” agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes, “mère,” and can mean “his” or “her” depending on the gender of the possessor. The context often clears up this ambiguity.
Expressing Possession using the Proposition “à”
Another way to express possession is using the proposition “à” followed by a noun or object pronoun, e.g., “C’est à toi” (This is yours), “Je ne sais pas c’est à qui” (I don’t know whose it is), “Ce n’est pas à Robert” (It’s not Robert’s), etc.
Use of “propre(s)”
One can also insert the adjective “propre(s)” (own) between the possessive pronoun and the noun for emphasis, e.g., “son propre téléphone” (his/her own phone), “ta propre maison” (your own house), “ses propres mains” (his/her own hands), etc.
Next: Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives
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