Grammar: Possessive Adjectives

French possessive adjectives are used to describe to whom something or someone belongs. Their English equivalents are words like “my,” “your,” “his,” “her,” “its,” “our,” and “their.”

They replace articles

They are used instead of an article. Articles are words like “un,” “une,” “le,” “la,” “l'” (l + apostrophe), “de,” “du,” “de la,” “de l'” (de + l + apostrophe), and “des.” These mean things like “a,” “an,” “the,” “some,” or “any.” You don’t need an article if you’re using a possessive adjective.

They go where?

Possessive adjectives go before the noun.

They agree with noun

Possessive adjectives agree in number with the noun. If the noun is singular, the possessive adjective also agrees in gender.

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

Examples

English	French	Gender	Number
my glass	mon verre	masc	singular
my window	ma fenêtre	fem	singular
my cups	mes tasses	fem	plural
your dog	ton chien	masc	singular
your aunt	ta tante	fem	singular
your cushions	tes coussins	masc	plural
his/her/its seat	son siège	masc	singular
his/her/its box	sa boîte	fem	singular
his/her/its neighbours	ses voisins	masc	plural
our tree	notre arbre	masc	singular
our house	notre maison	fem	singular
our sisters	nos sœurs	fem	plural
your nephew	votre neveu	masc	singular
your car	votre voiture	fem	singular
your flowers	vos fleurs	fem	plural
their uncle	leur oncle	masc	singular
their forest	leur forêt	fem	singular
their pebbles	leurs cailloux	masc	plural

Gender agreement

Note that, unlike English, the French possessive adjective agrees with the gender of the noun that is possessed, not with the gender of the person who possesses it.

Note also that you use the same word for “his,” “her” and “its.” That is because, as just mentioned, the French possessive adjective agrees with the gender of the noun that is possessed, not with the gender of the person who possesses it.

“Son” does not mean “his” and “sa” does not mean “her.” “Son” can mean either “his,” “her,” or “its,” because it varies depending on the noun gender, not the gender of the person who owns the noun.

This gender agreement is only visible with singular nouns. French possessive adjectives don’t distinguish between genders when used with plural nouns.

English	French	Why
my father	mon père	père is masculine
my mother	ma mère	mère is feminine
my parents	mes parents	parents are plural
your father	ton père	père is masculine
your mother	ta mère	mère is feminine
your parents	tes parents	parents are plural
his father	son père	père is masculine
his mother	sa mère	mère is feminine
his parents	ses parents	parents are plural
her father	son père	père is masculine
her mother	sa mère	mère is feminine
her parents	ses parents	parents are plural
its path	son chemin	chemin is masculine
its window	sa fenêtre	fenêtre is feminine
its lawns	ses pelouses	pelouses are plural

Nouns starting with vowel or silent “h”

If a singular noun starts with a vowel or a silent “h” (for example “amie” for ‘female friend’ or “habitation” for house), use the masculine singular possessive adjective, even if the noun is feminine. This is necessary to avoid having two vowels in a row.

English	French noun	Result
my (female) friend	une amie (feminine)	mon amie
your house	une habitation (feminine)	ton habitation
her school	une école (feminine)	son école