POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES my, your, his, her, our, their.

Possessive adjectives are words which tell you who something or someone belongs to e.g my coat, your pen, his book, our cat and their house. In English we only have one form for each person; my, your, his, her, our, their. But in French it’s a bit more complicated…

In French, there are 3 different words for MY - mon, ma and mes. You will know which one to use depending on the gender of the person or thing that you are talking about: e.g. Mon père my dad Ma mère my mum Mes parents my parents

Mon is used when the noun is masculine. Ma is used when the noun is feminine. Mes is used when the noun is plural. e.g. Mon livre my book Ma trousse my pencilcase Mes affaires my things

mon ma mes Now try these examples. Fill in the blanks with the correct word for MY (mon/ma/mes) 1. .......... frère. 2. .......... sœur. 3. .......... cousins. 4. .......... tante. 5. .......... oncle. 6. .......... grands-parents. 7. .......... nièce. 8. .......... mari. Now check your answers.

So far it’s easy peasy, isn’t it? Did you get 8 out of 8? So far it’s easy peasy, isn’t it? The hardest part is knowing the gender of each noun, but remember, the plurals are easy to spot, just look for nouns ending in –s!

Just to clarify… The possessive adjective always agrees with the NOUN, not the person that it belongs to. In other words, a man would say mon livre, and a woman would also say mon livre because the book is masculine (le livre). Likewise, both men and women would say ma maison, because house is feminine in French - it doesn't matter whether the owner of the house is male or female.

The word for YOUR follows the same pattern - ton, ta and tes. e.g. Ton père your dad Ta mère your mum Tes parents your parents

And so does the word for HIS or HER or ITS - son, sa and ses. e.g. Son père his/her/its dad Sa mère his/her/its mum Ses parents his/her/its parents Note that unlike in English, there are not separate words for ‘his’, ‘hers, and ‘its’. This can seem confusing for example, son lit can mean his bed, her bed, or its bed (e.g., the dog's). You can usually figure out who it belongs to by the context.

Before a vowel or a silent h mon, ton or son are also used before a feminine word starting with a vowel or silent h. Une amie (feminine singular) Mon amie arrive à dix heures (My friend's coming at 10) Une histoire (feminine singular) Ton histoire est amusante (Your story is funny)

MASC. (UN-LE) FEM. (UNE-LA) PLURAL (LES) MY MON MA MES YOUR (TU) TON Copy this table into your jotter. MASC. (UN-LE) FEM. (UNE-LA) PLURAL (LES) MY MON MA MES YOUR (TU) TON TA TES HIS HER ITS SON SA SES

Let’s try some more examples. ton mes sa tes mon ses ta son Let’s try some more examples. Write the correct form of the possessive adjectives (use the table to guide you) e.g. le chapeau > (your) ........ chapeau. 1. les lunettes > (my) ......... lunettes. 2. la jupe > (her) ........ jupe. 3. les sandwiches > (your) ......... sandwiches. 4. la voiture > (his) ........ voiture. 5. le livre > (my) ........ livre 6. les cahiers > (his) ........ cahiers. 7. la gomme > (your) ........ gomme. 8. la armoire > (her) ........ armoire.

Watch out for those vowels! How did you do this time? Watch out for those vowels! Would you have managed to complete those without being told the gender of each noun? Let’s give it a try…

. ta sa son mes ta ses ma tes The following people are bringing friends and relatives to a party. Who are they bringing? Follow the example. e.g. J’invite ____ cousin. J’invite MON cousin. 1. Tu invites ......... sœur. 2. Il invite ........ mère. 3. Elle invite ......... copain Paul. 4. J’invite ........ parents. 5. Susan invite ........ frère. 6. Tu invites ........ cousine. 7. Greg invite ........ amis. 8. J’invite ........ tante. 9. Tu invites …… copines. 10. Jason invite …….. frères.

Getting the hang of it? Good! Now there’s just a few more possessive adjectives we need to go over, but these are easier still!

In French, there are 2 different words for OUR - notre and nos. e.g. Notre père our dad Notre mère our mum Nos parents our parents Notre is used when the noun is either masculine OR feminine. Nos is used when the noun is plural.

Vos parents your parents In French, there are 2 different words for YOUR when you are talking to more than one person or someone you don’t know - votre and vos. e.g. Votre père your dad Votre mère your mum Vos parents your parents Votre is used when the noun is either masculine OR feminine. Vos is used when the noun is plural.

Leurs parents their parents And, there are 2 different words for THEIR - leur and leurs. e.g. Leur père their dad Leur mère their mum Leurs parents their parents Leur is used when the noun is either masculine OR feminine. Leurs is used when the noun is plural.

MASC. (UN-LE) FEM. (UNE-LA) PLURAL (LES) OUR NOTRE NOS YOUR (VOUS) Copy this table into your jotter. MASC. (UN-LE) FEM. (UNE-LA) PLURAL (LES) OUR NOTRE NOS YOUR (VOUS) VOTRE VOS THEIR LEUR LEURS

nos leur vos notre votre leurs Now try these examples. Fill in the blanks with the correct word for OUR, YOUR or THEIR. Nous écoutons ………. professeurs. Ils ont échoué ………. examen. Vous portez ………. cravates. Elles adorent ………. cousin. Nous parlons à .......... père. 6. Vous lisez .......... journal. 7. Ils font ………. devoirs. 8. Aimez-vous ………. voiture? 9. Jack et Jill ont perdu ……….. photos. 10. Carole et moi partageons ………. chambre.

Ok, 1 last exercise, this time using all the possessive adjectives you have learnt. Complete the following sentences. Then re-write them in the plural J’ai une gomme. C’est ma gomme. Ce sont mes gommes. Tu as une carte de crédit. C’est ___ carte de crédit. Il a un billet de train. C’est ___ billet de train. Nous avons une valise. C’est ___ valise. Vous avez un visa. C’est ___ visa. Elles ont une passeport. C’est ___ passeport.

For more on possessive and demonstrative adjectives click…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/french/activities/grammar/adjectives2.shtml