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A1 · Grammaire11 / 19

Les adjectifs possessifs

mon, ton, son, notre, votre, leur

What you’ll learn

Possessive adjectives say who owns something. Unlike English, they agree with the THING being possessed — not with the owner. So 'her book' and 'his book' can be the same word.

Explanation

The full table

Pick the form based on the gender and number of the noun, NOT the owner.

OwnerMasc singFem singPlural
mymonmames
your (tu)tontates
his/her/itssonsases
ournotrenotrenos
your (vous)votrevotrevos
theirleurleurleurs

Watch out: feminine nouns starting with a vowel

Use mon/ton/son (not ma/ta/sa) before a feminine noun starting with a vowel, for easier pronunciation.

  • mon amie (not 'ma amie')my (female) friend
  • son écolehis/her school
'Son livre' can mean 'his book' OR 'her book' — context tells you which.
Practice · 10 exercises
1

___ mère est française. (my)

2

___ ami s'appelle Paul. (my — note 'ami' is masculine vowel)

3

___ amie s'appelle Sophie. (my — 'amie' is feminine vowel)

4

___ parents habitent à Nice. (our)

5

___ voiture est rouge. (their)

6

___ enfants sont sympas. (their)

7

C'est ___ stylo ? (your — informal)

8

C'est ___ stylo ? (your — formal/plural)

9

Marie parle à son frère. 'Son' means…

10

Which is correct for 'my school' (école = feminine, vowel)?