Possessive Adjectives: Singular Possessions

Adjectifs possessifs pour possessions singulières

Ma musique, notre café - French possessive adjectives
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French possessive adjectives are used in front of nouns to indicate to whom or to what those nouns belong. They’re more complicated than English possessive adjectives because French has different forms depending on how many possessions you’re talking about: whether there’s one or more than one.

When dealing with a singular possession and a singular possessor, there are two forms for each grammatical person, depending on the gender of the possession:

  Masculine   Feminine
my mon   ma
your (tu form) ton   ta
his, her, its son   sa

Par exemple…

Où est mon frère ?   Where is my brother?
Nous écoutons ma musique.   We’re listening to my music.
Voici ton livre.   Here’s your book.
Il a perdu son emploi.   He lost his job.

 Note that it’s the gender of the possession – not the possessor (owner) – that determines whether you need the masculine or feminine form. See Singular possessors for more detail.

With a singular possession and a plural possessor, gender is irrelevant: there’s only one possessive adjective for each grammatical person.

our   notre
your (vous form)   votre
their   leur

Par exemple…

C’est notre livre.   It’s our book.
Je vois votre voiture.   I see your car.
Il veut leur assistance.   He wants their help.

 The tricky part

When talking about a plural owner, you have to be careful when deciding whether the possession is singular or plural – learn more.

More French possessive adjectives

 Possessive Adjective Quizzes

Quizzes on possessive adjectives vs possessive pronouns

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 Related lessons

Learn Spanish En español

Learn Italian In italiano

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Mon, ma, mes, notre, nos French possessive adjectives

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