9 - Possession
of
To say possession, we can use the prepositional equivalent of “of”, which is just the partitive article in french.
And here are some examples:
- “Le chapeau de Catherine” ⇒ Catherine’s hat
- “L’orange d’Antoine” → Antoine’s orange
- “La chambre des enfants” → The children’s bedroom
- “La chair du chien” → The flesh of the dog
Possessive adjectives
French possessive adjectives will change depending on the gender of the noun they're describing, but the general form depends on the subject number and plurality.
It’s just like in hindi and spanish where the possessed object is what decides the gender ending of the possessive adjective
- Subject decides form
- Object gender decides gendered version of form
| Possessor | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Plural (M/F) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je (I) | mon | ma | mes |
| tu (you, informal) | ton | ta | tes |
| il/elle/on (he/she/one) | son | sa | ses |
| nous (we) | notre | notre | nos |
| vous (you, formal/plural) | votre | votre | vos |
| ils/elles (they) | leur | leur | leurs |
however, there are times when the gender of the possessed object does not matter and therefore does not change the ending - in these three situations:
- The noun being possessed starts with a vowel, like “l’orange.” This means that you would use the masculine version - instead of “ma orange”, it would be “mon orange”
- For the 1st person plural (nous) and 2nd person formal/plural (vous), the gender of the object does not change the ending.
In case of vowels
The possessive adjectives mon, ton, and son become mon', ton', and son' before a feminine singular noun that begins with a vowel or a mute h. This is for ease of pronunciation.
- Mon amie (My friend) - Instead of ma amie, we use mon amie.
- Ton école (Your school) - Instead of ta école, we use ton école.
- Son histoire (His/Her story) - Instead of sa histoire, we use son histoire.
Possesive pronouns
Possessive pronouns are the equivalent of "mine", "yours", "his", "hers", "ours", "yours", "theirs" in english, which are just the noun versions of the possessive adjectives.
- 1st person (mine) - le mien/la mienne/les miens/les miennes,
- 2nd person singular informal (yours) - le tien/la tienne/les tiens/les tiennes
- 3rd person (his/hers/its) - le sien/la sienne/les siens/les siennes
- 1st person plural (ours) - le nôtre/la nôtre/les nôtres
- 2nd person plural or singular formal *_(yours, plural or formal) _- le vôtre/la vôtre/les vôtres*
- 3rd person plura*l* (theirs)*- le leur/la leur/les leurs*
When used in a sentence, possessive pronouns are always preceded by a definite article (le, la, les).
| Possessor | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Masculine Plural | Feminine Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je (I) | le mien | la mienne | les miens | les miennes |
| tu (you, informal) | le tien | la tienne | les tiens | les tiennes |
| il/elle/on (he/she/one) | le sien | la sienne | les siens | les siennes |
| nous (we) | le nôtre | la nôtre | les nôtres | les nôtres |
| vous (you, formal/plural) | le vôtre | la vôtre | les vôtres | les vôtres |
| ils/elles (they) | le leur | la leur | les leurs | les leurs |
Here are some great examples to get used to these possessive pronouns:
- C'est mon livre. C'est le mien. (This is my book. It's mine.)
- C'est ma voiture. C'est la mienne. (This is my car. It's mine.)
- Ce sont mes amis. Ce sont les miens. (These are my friends. They are mine.)
- C'est ton vélo. C'est le tien. (This is your bike. It's yours.)
- C'est ta maison. C'est la tienne. (This is your house. It's yours.)
- Ce sont tes chaussures. Ce sont les tiennes. (These are your shoes. They are yours.)
- C'est son stylo. C'est le sien. (This is his/her pen. It's his/hers.)
- C'est sa montre. C'est la sienne. (This is his/her watch. It's his/hers.)
- Ce sont ses idées. Ce sont les siennes. (These are his/her ideas. They are his/hers.)
- C'est notre problème. C'est le nôtre. (This is our problem. It's ours.)
- Ce sont nos enfants. Ce sont les nôtres. (These are our children. They are ours.)
- C'est votre opinion. C'est la vôtre. (This is your opinion. It's yours.)
- Ce sont vos projets. Ce sont les vôtres. (These are your projects. They are yours.)
- C'est leur jardin. C'est le leur. (This is their garden. It's theirs.)
- Ce sont leurs valises. Ce sont les leurs. (These are their suitcases. They are theirs.)