French Possessives Adjectives Come in Many, Many Forms

Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to whom or to what something belongs. French possessive adjectives are used in similar ways to English possessive adjectives, but there are some differences in form. Using French Possessive Adjectives French grammar touts many more possessives than English  because there are different forms, not only for the person and number but sometimes also for the gender and the first letter of that which is possessed. All of the different forms are summarized in the table below and are explained in detail later in this lesson. When describing two or more nouns in French, a possessive adjective must be used in front of each one. Son frà ¨re et sa sÅ“ur.His brother and sister.Ma tante et mon oncle.My aunt and uncle. The possessive adjective is almost never used with body parts in French. You cant say my hand or my hair. Instead, the French use pronominal verbs to show possession with body parts. Je me suis cassà © la jambe.I broke my leg (literally I broke the leg of myself).Il se lave les cheveux.Hes washing his hair (literally Hes washing the hair of himself). Singular Plural English Masculine Feminine Before Vowel my mon ma mon mes your (tu form) ton ta ton tes his, her, its son sa son ses our notre notre notre nos your (vous form) votre votre votre vos their leur leur leur leurs Singular Possessive French Adjectives In French grammar, there are three forms of the possessive for each singular person (I, you, he/she/it). The gender, number, and first letter of the noun possessed determine which form to use. My mon  (masculine singular),  mon stylo (my pen)ma  (feminine singular),  ma montre  (my watch)mes  (plural),  mes  livres (my books) When a  feminine noun  begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used to avoid saying  ma  amie,  which would break the  flow of speech. In this case, the possessives final consonant is pronounced (the n in the example below) to achieve fluid pronunciation. mon  amiemy (female) friend Your (tu  form) ton  (masculine singular),  ton stylo  (your pen)ta  (feminine singular),  ta montre  (your watch)tes  (plural),  tes livres  (your books) When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine  possessive adjective  is used: ton  amieyour (female) friend His, Her, Its son  (masculine singular),  son stylo  (his, her, its pen)sa  (feminine singular),  sa  montre  (his, her, its watch)ses  (plural),  ses  livres  (his, her, its books) When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used: son  amiehis, her,  its  (female) friend An important difference between French and English is that  French utilizes the gender of the noun to determine which form to use, not the gender of the subject. A man would say  mon livre  when talking about a book, and a woman would also say  mon livre.  The book is masculine, and therefore so is the possessive adjective, no matter to whom the book belongs. Likewise, both men and women would say  ma  maison, because house is feminine in French. It doesnt matter whether the owner of the house is male or female. This difference between English and French possessive adjectives can be particularly confusing when using him, her, or it.  Son,  sa, and  ses  can each mean his, her, or  its,  depending on the context. For example,  son lit  can mean his bed, her bed, or its bed (for example, the dogs). If you need to stress the gender of the person the item belongs to, you can use  Ãƒ  Ã‚  lui  (belonging to him) or  Ãƒ  Ã‚  elle  (belonging to her). Cest son livre, à  Ã‚  elle.  Its her book.Voici sa monnaie, à   lui.Heres his change. Plural Possessive French Adjectives For plural subjects (we, you, and they), French possessive adjectives are far simpler. There are only two forms  for  each grammatical person: singular and plural. Our notre  (singular),  notre stylo  (our pen)nos  (plural),  nos montres  (our watches) Your (vous  form) votre  (singular),  votre stylo  (your pen)vos  (plural),  vos montres  (your watches) Their leur  (singular),  leur stylo  (their pen)leurs  (plural),  leurs montres  (their watches)