How French works
We have already seen that there are three ways of saying my in French. It depends on whether the noun the my is describing is masculine , feminine or plural . All the other possessive adjectives in French follow a similar pattern. Here is the complete list:
| 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 |
Quel est le nom de ton professeur?
What's the name of your teacher?
Son frère est très sportif
His / Her brother plays a lot of sport
Sa soeur est très intelligente
His / Her brother is very clever
Est-ce que je peux emprunter votre parapluie?
Can I borrow your umbrella?
Where a feminine noun starts with a vowel you use mon, ton or son and not ma, ta or sa. This is because it’s easier to say:
Mon amie
My friend
Ton école
Your school
Son, sa and ses can mean either him or her. It depends on the gender of the noun :
Paul met sa chemise
Paul puts on his shirt
Marie met son pullover
Marie puts on her jumper
Click below to test yourself on all the content presented in this unit.