Le possessif - The possessive

[Toc De Mac]

Part One

In order to... say things such as "my book," "your hat," "his cat," etc., one needs to use les adjectifs possessifs (possessive adjectives).

Like many things in French, possessive adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun that they are describing. Thus, there are multiple forms of "my," "your," etc., each used according to the gender and number of the noun (see below table).



Using the above table, let's do some basic examples.

1) My cat is named Whiskers.

Since "the cat" is "le chat," thus making it masculine and singular, the result would be:

Mon chat s'appelle Whiskers.


2) Your dress is very pretty.

In French, "the dress" is "la robe," making it feminine and singular. Thus, the sentence in French would be either:

Ta robe est très jolie.
or
Votre robe est très jolie.

Which to use depends on whom you are speaking to. If you are speaking to close friends, you would use the informal "ta." If you are speaking with acquaintances or with respected individuals, you would use the formal "votre."


3) Her flowers are beautiful and colorful!

"The flowers" translates to "les fleurs," and is feminine and plural. Thus...

Ses fleurs sont belles et colorées!


However, there is an exception. If the noun that a possessive adjective is describing starts with a vowel, you must use the masculine singular form of the possessive adjective (even if the noun is feminine). This is true with singular nouns only. If the noun that a possessive adjective is describing is plural, then you simply use the plural form of the possessive adjective.

For example...

My friend (who is a girl) is nice. = Mon amie est gentille/sympa.

Note that, even though "amie" is feminine, the masculine singular form of the possessive adjective is used ("mon").


Part One Questions: If you feel up to the "challenge," you can send me a PM with what you think are the correct answers to the following questions and I will correct them for you (or, if they are all correct, I'll give you a cookie ).

Translate the following:

1) My books
2) Our money
3) Their house
4) Your necklace (use the informal version)
5) His shoes
6) Your drawings (use the formal version)
7) My school (be careful with this one)


Part Two

In order to...say things such as "It is mine," "It is ours," etc., one needs to use les pronoms possessifs (possessive pronouns).

As with possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun that they refer to.



Using this table, here are two examples:

1) Person A: My math teacher is mean this school year. Is yours also?
Person B: No, mine is very nice.

A: Cette année scolaire, mon professeur de mathematiques est méchant. Le tien aussi?

B: Non, le mien est très gentil.


2) Person A: Is this my apple?
Person B: No, it is his.

A: Est-ce ma pomme?

B: Non, c'est la sienne.


Part Two Questions: Again, you can send me a PM with your answers.

1) Yours (referring to "your father"; use the informal) is forty-five years old, right?
2) Ours (referring to "our family") is very large.
3) Theirs (referring to "their house") is near our house.

Well, that's it!

Amusez-vous bien!

PS: Please tell me if corrections need to be made in any way.