possessive adjectives
| Person | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Plural (Both Genders) |
|---|---|---|---|
| My | mon | ma(mon) | mes |
| your (singular informal) | ton | ta(ton) | tes |
| his/her/its/one’s | son | sa(son) | ses |
| our | notre | notre | nos |
| your (plural or formal) | votre | votre | vos |
| their | leur | leur | leurs |
Use of masculine form: Before feminine nouns starting with a vowel or mute h, use the masculine form for euphony.
- mon assiette my plate
- ton histoire your story
- son erreur his/her mistake
- mon autre sœur my other sister
Note that possessive adjectives are not normally used with parts of the body. Use le, la, l’ or les instead. 1
- J’ai mal à la main. My hand hurts.
Unlike English, French doesn’t use an apostrophe with possessive adjectives.
| English (with apostrophe) | French (without apostrophe) |
|---|---|
| My father’s car | La voiture de mon père |
| The cat’s tail | La queue du chat |
| Mary’s dress | La robe de Marie |
ça vs. ce
- ça is more colloquial, general or abstract, always a pronoun and more flexible in informal speech
- Ça va ? How’s it going?
- J’aime ça. I like that/it.
- Ça y est ! That’s it!/There it is.
- ce is more formal, more specific, can be both adjective and pronoun, follows stricter grammatical rules
- Ce dont je parle What I’m talking about
- C’est tout ! That’s all!
Note: dont (meaning whose, of whom, of which, about which) is used to refer to people or things, but its form never changes.
- les films dont tu parles the films you’re talking about
- le prix dont il est si fier the prize he’s so proud of
ah
- ah bon ? really? / is that so?
- ah mais … yes, but …
- ah non ! oh no!
Vocabulaire
| mots | explications |
|---|---|
| le formulaire | form |
| imprimé | printed |
| régler | to settle (a formal way of saying “to pay”)- Réglez à la caisse Pay at the cash desk |
| caisse | checkout- J’ai dû faire la queue à la caisse. I had to queue at the checkout. |
| devoir | must, to have to / (past participle) dû |
| portefeuille | wallet |
| dont | of which, of whom |
| fier | ADJ. proud |