How French works
Possessives are words which are used to indicate possession. Possessive adjectives, like all adjectives , serve to describe a noun :
Ma voiture est italienne tandis que sa voiture est allemande
My car is Italian whilst his car is German
Possessive pronouns, like all pronouns , take the place of a noun:
On a tous les deux une voiture de sport : la mienne est italienne tandis que la sienne est allemande
We both have sports cars: mine is Italian whilst his is German
In French, a possessive adjectives agrees in gender and in number with the noun it precedes. They also vary according to the person of the possessor.
| masc sing | fem sing | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | mon | ma | mes |
| your | ton | ta | tes |
| his/her | son | sa | ses |
| our | notre | notre | nos |
| your | votre | votre | vos |
| their | leur | leur | leurs |
The masculine forms mon, ton and son are used before a feminine singular noun or adjective beginning with a vowel or unaspirated h:
mon idée, ton autre soeur, son habitude
Possessive adjectives are usually repeated before each noun to which they apply:
Il a apporté son chapeau, son pardessus et son parapluie
He brought his hat, overcoat and umbrella
French tends to use the singular rather than the plural when several people possess one thing:
Les étudiants ont tous sorti leur manuel
The students all got out their manuals
Les enfants ont passé la plupart de leur vie en France
The children have spent most of their lives in France
The definite article and not the possessive is used before nouns referring to parts of the body in the following cases:
When it is clear from the context that the subject is the possessor of the part of the body:
Elle ferma les yeux pour mieux se concentrer
She shut her eyes so as to concentrate better
Elle marchait les yeux fermés
She was walking with her eyes shut
Il se tenait debout, les mains dans les poches
He was standing up, with his hands in his pocket
When the possessor is indicated by means of a pronominal verb:
Je me suis brossé les dents avant d’aller me coucher
I brushed my teeth before going to bed
When the possessor is indicated by means of an indirect object :
Je lui ai tapé sur l’épaule pour le réveiller
I tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up
Note that the impersonal pronoun on and other impersonal expressions take the possessive adjective son / sa / ses:
On a le droit de faire son service militaire à l'étranger
You have the right to do your military service abroad
Avant d'aller à l'université il faut d'abord avoir son bac
Before going to university you must first have your baccalaureate
To emphasize a possessive in French use à with the relevant disjunctive pronoun :
Non, c'est ton avis à toi
No, that's your opinion
C'est bien mon livre à moi
This is my book.
Note that English achieves this through verbal emphasis, something which is not possible in French.
As with possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns must agree in gender and in number with the noun to which they refer. Note that they are always used with the definite article le, la or les and that there is no hyphen.
| masc sing | fem sing | masc pl | fem pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mine | le mien | la mienne | les miens | les miennes |
| yours | le tien | la tienne | les tiens | les tiennes |
| his/hers | le sien | la sienne | les siens | les siennes |
| ours | le nôtre | la nôtre | les nôtres | les nôtres |
| yours | le vôtre | la vôtre | les vôtres | les vôtres |
| theirs | le leur | la leur | les leurs | les leurs |
C'est sa maison, pas la mienne
It’s his / her house, not mine
Tu veux une cigarette? - Non merci, j'ai les miennes
Do you want a cigarette? - No, I’ve got my own thanks
C'est votre voiture? - Oui c'est la nôtre
Is that your car? - Yes, it’s ours
Note also that there is a circumflex accent on le nôtre and le vôtre, unlike the possessive adjectives notre and votre. This involves a difference in pronunciation, the circumflex creating a long vowel sound similar to the difference between got and goat in English.
The impersonal pronoun on and other impersonal expressions take the possessive pronoun le sien:
La literie n'est pas fournie, on doit / il faut apporter la sienne
Bedding is not provided, you must bring your own
C’est à qui ce manteau? - C’est à Marie
Whose is this coat? - It's Marie's
C’est à qui ce manteau? - C’est celui de Marie
Whose is this coat? - It's Marie's
Ce livre appartient à Richard
This book belongs to Richard
Posséder is more flexible than the English word to possess:
Il possède trois propriétés à l’étranger
He owns three properties abroad
Cette maison possède un escalier magnifique
This house has a magnificent staircase
Détenir is more limited in its use, and is commonly found in administrative or journalistic writing:
Seul les marchés détiennent la réponse à la question
The markets alone hold the answer to the question