Week 3, Day 4: Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns Copy Copy

Frederic

What you will learn today:

Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns

When establishing ownership of something, it is important to use the correct possessive adjective, such as “my,” “yours,” “his,” “hers” etc.

Possessive Adjectives

The table below gives you an overview of possessive adjectives in the French language and how they change depending on the type of noun, i.e., singular or plural:

Listen to Week 3 Day 4 Track 1

English translation	Masculine singular	Feminine Singular	M & F plural
my	mon	ma	mes
your	ton	ta	tes
his/her/its	son	sa	ses
our	notre	notre	nos
your (plural)	votre	votre	vos
their	leur	leur	leurs

Speaking Practice 1

The possessive adjective needs to agree in number and gender with the thing that is being possessed, not the owner or possessor. Examples of this can be found below:

Listen to Week 3 Day 4 Track 2

• ma femme (my wife): The word “wife” is a feminine noun, so regardless of who is talking about their wife, the possessive adjective will agree in gender with “wife.”

• sa chambre (his/her room): “Chambre” is another feminine noun, so the possessive adjective will be “sa,” even if the owner/possessor of the room is male.

• When a noun begins with a vowel, the possessive adjective will be “mon,” “ton,” or “son” instead of “ma,” “ta,”or “sa,” even if the noun is feminine.

For example:

• mon amie (my friend – here it is a girl because “amie” takes an “e”)

• ton agence (your agency – “agence” is a feminine word)

• son enquête (his/her survey – “enquête” is also a feminine word)

This may go against established grammar rules, but it sounds far more pleasant to French ears. Remember, the French language is the most romantic in the world, and for good reason: it is pleasant to listen to!

Speaking Practice 2

Read and listen the following dialogue:

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Possessive Adjectives

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Speaking Practice 3

Possessive Pronouns

A noun that is preceded by a possessive adjective could be replaced by a possessive pronoun. This lesson will teach you how to use these pronouns correctly.

• The use of French possessive pronouns is quite similar to their English counterparts. Let's take a look at the table below:

Listen to Week 3 Day 4 Track 5

English	Singular		Plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
mine	le mien	la mienne	les miens	les miennes
yours (tu form)	le tien	la tienne	les tiens	les tiennes
his, hers, its	le sien	la sienne	les siens	les siennes
ours	le nôtre	la nôtre	les nôtres	les nôtres
yours (vous form)	le vôtre	la vôtre	les vôtres	les vôtres
theirs	le leur	la leur	les leurs	les leurs

• There is a difference. The possessive pronoun in French agrees in number and gender with the noun they replace, not with the possessor.

Listen to Week 3 Day 4 Track 6

J'apporte mes notes et tu apportes les tiennes.

I’ll bring my notes and you bring yours.

• Here, the possessor "tu" is singular, but the noun that replaces "notes" is plural feminine, and so is the possessive pronoun "les tiennes."

Nous aimons votre chien et vous aimez le nôtre.

We like your dog and you like ours.

• Here, the possessor "nous" is plural, but the noun that replaces "chien" is singular, and so is the possessive pronoun "le nôtre."

Speaking Practice 4

Dialogue

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A Quick Recap of this Lesson

Possessive adjectives are used to establish ownership over a certain thing.
In French, possessive adjectives need to agree in number and gender with the thing that is being owned, not with the owner or the possessor.
Possessive pronouns in French function the same way as the English counterparts.
The difference, however, is that the French possessive pronouns need to agree with the number and gender of the object they are replacing, and not with the possessor of the object.