A masculine noun takes mon. The phrase lines up with English.
English / Français
Possessives
A French possessive agrees with the thing owned, not with the owner. Son frère can be his brother or her brother; sa sœur can be his sister or her sister. The possessive takes the place of the article, so there is never one before it.
It agrees with the thing owned
Voiture is feminine, so “my” becomes ma.
Amie is feminine, but it starts with a vowel, so French uses mon: mon amie, said as one word.
Sa is feminine because sœur is feminine.
Son is masculine because frère is masculine. It agrees with the thing owned and does not show whether the owner is male or female.
French has no ’s. The owner comes after the thing, joined by de: “the book of Luc”.
All the forms
Pick the row by the owner and the column by the thing owned.
| English | Masc. singular | Fem. singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | mon | ma | mes |
| your (informal) | ton | ta | tes |
| his / her / its | son | sa | ses |
| our | notre | nos | |
| your (formal, or more than one) | votre | vos | |
| their | leur | leurs | |
dashed cell: becomes mon, ton, son before a vowel or silent hfilled, wide cell: one form for both genders
- Son, sa and ses mean “his”, “her” or “its”. Son livre is his book or her book. Context usually makes the owner clear; to stress it, add à lui or à elle: son livre à elle.
- The plural forms mes, tes, ses, nos, vos, leurs are the same for masculine and feminine: mes frères, mes sœurs.
- Before a vowel or silent h, ma, ta, sa become mon, ton, son, even with a feminine noun: mon école, ton histoire, son idée.
- The possessive replaces the article. French never says le mon livre.
- With body parts French usually uses a reflexive pronoun and the article, with no possessive: Je me lave les mains. See Reflexive verbs.
Mine, yours, hers
When the noun is left out, French uses a possessive pronoun with the article. Like the possessive, it agrees with the thing owned.
| English | Masc. singular | Fem. singular | Masc. plural | Fem. plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mine | le mien | la mienne | les miens | les miennes |
| yours (informal) | le tien | la tienne | les tiens | les tiennes |
| his / hers / its | le sien | la sienne | les siens | les siennes |
| ours | le nôtre | la nôtre | les nôtres | |
| yours (formal, or more than one) | le vôtre | la vôtre | les vôtres | |
| theirs | le leur | la leur | les leurs | |
- Ce n’est pas ma valise, c’est la tienne. It isn’t my suitcase, it’s yours.
- À and de combine with the article as usual: Je pense au mien, Il parle des siens. See Prepositions.
- In everyday speech “It’s mine” is often C’est à moi, with à and a stressed pronoun: C’est à toi ? (Is it yours?), C’est à Luc (It’s Luc’s).
- The circumflex in le nôtre and le vôtre changes the vowel sound. The possessives notre and votre have no accent.