Sunday, March 1, 2020
French Possessives Adjectives Come in Many, Many Forms
French Possessives Adjectives Come in Many, Many Forms Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to whom or to what something belongs. French possessive adjectives are used in similar ways to English possessive adjectives, but there are some differences in form. Using French Possessive Adjectives French grammar touts many more possessives than English because there are different forms not only for the person and number but sometimes also the gender and the first letter of that which is possessed. All of the different forms are summarized in the table below and are explained in detail later in this lesson. 1. When describing two or more nouns in French, a possessive adjective must be used in front of each one:   son frà ¨re et sa sÅ“ur   his brother and sister    ma tante et mon oncle   my aunt and uncle 2. The possessive adjective is almost never used with body parts in French. You cant say my hand or my hair. Instead, the French use pronominal verbs to show possession with body parts:    Je me suis cassà © la jambe.   I broke my leg (literally, I broke the leg of myself).    Il se lave les cheveux.   Hes washing his hair (literally, Hes washing the hair of himself). Singular Plural English Masculine Feminine Before Vowel my mon ma mon mes your (tu form) ton ta ton tes his, her, its son sa son ses our notre notre notre nos your (vous form) votre votre votre vos their leur leur leur leurs Singular Possessive French Adjectives In French grammar, there are three forms of the possessive for each singular person (I, you, he/she/it). The gender, number, and first letter of the noun possessed determine which form to use. MY   mon (masculine singular) mon stylo  my pen   ma (feminine singular) ma montre  my watch   mes (plural) mes livres my books When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used, to avoid saying ma amie, which would break the flow of speech. In this case, the possessives final consonant is pronounced (the n in the example below) to achieve fluid pronunciation.   mon amie - my (female) friend YOUR (tu form)    ton (masculine singular)  ton stylo  your pen   ta (feminine singular)  ta montre your watch   tes (plural)  tes livres your books When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used:   ton amie - your (female) friend HIS / HER / ITS    son (masculine singular)  son stylo  his, her, its pen   sa (feminine singular)  sa montre his, her, its watch   ses (plural)  ses livres his, her, its books When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used:    son amie - his, her, its (female) friend Note: An important difference between French and English is that French utilizes the gender of the noun to determine which form to use, not the gender of the subject. A man would say mon livre when talking about a book, and a woman would also say mon livre. The book is masculine, and therefore so is the possessive adjective, no matter who the book belongs to. Likewise, both men and women would say ma maison, because house is feminine in French. It doesnt matter whether the owner of the house is male or female. This difference between English and French possessive adjectives can be particularly confusing when using him/her/it. Son, sa, and ses can each mean his, her, or its depending on the context. For example, son lit can mean his bed, her bed, or its bed (for example, the dogs). If you need to stress the gender of the person the item belongs to, you can use  lui (belonging to him) or  elle (belonging to her):    Cest son livre,  elle. Its her book.   Voici sa monnaie, lui.  Heres his change. Plural Possessive French Adjectives For plural subjects (we, you, and they), French possessive adjectives are far simpler. There are only two forms for each grammatical person: singular and plural. OUR    notre (singular)  notre stylo  our pen   nos (plural)  nos montres our watches YOUR (vous form)   votre (singular)  votre stylo  your pen  vos (plural)  vos montres your watches THEIR    leur (singular)  leur stylo  their pen   leurs (plural)  leurs montres their watches
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