Possession belonging to French
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To emphasize to whom something belongs, you can use the possessive à in one of these constructions:
- noun + être à + noun or stressed pronoun
- c’est à + noun or stressed pronoun
- c’est (or another verb) + noun + à + stressed pronoun*
Par exemple…
| Cette voiture est à Béatrice, à ma fille, à elle. | This car belongs to Beatrice, to my daughter, to her. | |
| – À qui est cette voiture ? – C’est à Béatrice, C’est à ma fille, C’est à elle. |
– Whose car is this? – It’s Beatrice’s, It’s my daughter’s, It’s hers. |
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| – Est-ce que cette voiture est à toi ? – Non, c’est à Béatrice, c’est à ma fille, c’est à elle. |
– Is this your car? – No, it’s Beatrice’s, it’s my daughter’s, it’s hers. |
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| C’est la voiture à elle. | It’s her car, It’s a car of hers. |
Though you might hear native French speakers say c’est + noun + à + noun/name, as in C’est la voiture à Béatrice or C’est la voiture à ma fille, it’s wrong. For that construction, you need the possessive de:
C’est la voiture de Béatrice.
C’est la voiture de ma fille.
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