This week we don’t have the most fun of topics but necessary if you are learning French, as possessive adjectives and pronouns are used every day! So let’s jump in…
Possessive Adjectives are used before a noun and indicates its possession. They are:
Mon/ma/mes – my (masculine singular/feminine singular/plural)
Ton/ta/tes – your singular informal
Son/sa/ses – his/her/its
Notre/nos – our (masculin & feminine singular/plural)
Votre/vos – your singular polite
Leur/leurs – they
The possessive adjective agrees with the noun in number and usually in gender.
For example: Joesphine: “Mon équipe” (my team)
Dylan: “Ma mère” (my mother)
Possessive Pronouns are another way to indicate possession
Mien/miens;mienne/miennes – mine (masculine singular/plural;feminine singular/plural)
Tien/tiens;tienne/tiennes – yours singular informal
Sien/siens;sienne/siennes – his/hers/its
Notre/notres – ours (masculin & feminine singular/plural)
Votre/votres – yours singular polite
Leur/leurs – theirs
The possessive prononun agrees with the noun in number and usually the gender.
For example: Josephine: “Ce vélo-là, c’est le mien” (That bike is mine)
TIP
If a singular noun begins with a h or vowel, the masuline possessive adjective/pronoun is used. This makes them easier to say and shown below are some examples with the transliteration:
Mon histoire – my story (mon ees-twar)
Ton assiette – your plate (ton a-syet)
Son erreur – his/her mistake (son ay-rer)