Possessives

mon, ma, mes, ton, son, leur...

Les adjectifs possessifs : mon, ma, mes, ton, son, leur...

Les Adjectifs Possessifs

In French, possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, our, their) agree with the noun they describe, not with the person who owns it. That's the biggest difference from English. Pick the form based on whether the noun that follows is masculine, feminine or plural, not on who the owner is: "son chien" can mean his dog OR her dog, since chien is masculine either way. Mon, ton and son also have a special vowel rule: before a word starting with a vowel sound, use the masculine form even for a feminine noun, so it flows smoothly when spoken (mon amie, not ma amie). Notre, votre and leur work differently: they never change for gender at all, only for singular vs. plural.

mon / ma / mes — my

mon (masc): mon frère — my brother
ma (fem): ma sœur — my sister
mes (plural): mes parents — my parents
mon (vowel): mon amie — my friend (f)

ton / ta / tes — your (tu)

ton (masc): ton livre — your book
ta (fem): ta valise — your suitcase
tes (plural): tes amis — your friends

son / sa / ses — his / her / its

son (masc): son chien — his/her dog
sa (fem): sa voiture — his/her car
ses (plural): ses enfants — his/her children

notre / votre / leur — our / your / their (no gender, just number)

notre (singular): notre maison / notre voisin — our house / our neighbour
nos (plural): nos voisins — our neighbours
votre (singular): votre bureau / votre maison — your (formal/plural) office / house
vos (plural): vos billets — your tickets
leur (singular): leur chat / leur maison — their cat / their house
leurs (plural): leurs enfants — their children