FSF1D Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives: Notes and Practice

Describing people and things constantly involves saying whose they are (my brother, their house) and pointing them out (this jacket, those shoes). French uses small words that sit in front of the noun, just like an article, and — like articles and adjectives — they change to match the noun. That last point is where English speakers go wrong. In English, his and her depend on the owner: a boy's bike is his bike, a girl's bike is her bike. In French, the possessive word depends on the thing owned. Le vélo is masculine, so it is son vélo whether it belongs to Marc or to Julie. La maison is feminine, so it is sa maison for both of them. Once you train yourself to look at the noun that follows, not at the person, the whole system becomes simple.

Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, our, their

Owner	Before a masculine singular noun	Before a feminine singular noun	Before a plural noun	English
je	mon frère	ma sœur	mes parents	my
tu	ton frère	ta sœur	tes parents	your (one person you know well)
il / elle / on	son frère	sa sœur	ses parents	his, her, its
nous	notre frère	notre sœur	nos parents	our
vous	votre frère	votre sœur	vos parents	your (several people, or polite)
ils / elles	leur frère	leur sœur	leurs parents	their

Read across a row to find the owner, then pick the column that matches the noun. Notre, votre and leur have only a singular form and a plural form, because they are the same for masculine and feminine.

Fig 1The owner picks the row; the gender and number of the thing owned picks the column. Ma, ta and sa become mon, ton and son before a vowel sound.

Son, sa, ses agree with the thing, not the person

Marc aime sa maison = Marc likes his house. Julie aime son vélo = Julie likes her bike. Sa is feminine because maison is feminine, even though Marc is a boy; son is masculine because vélo is masculine, even though Julie is a girl. So sa voiture on its own can mean his car or her car; the sentence around it tells you which. If you really need to make it clear, add à lui (his) or à elle (hers): sa voiture à elle.

Why mon amie and not ma amie

Before a feminine noun that starts with a vowel or a silent h, ma, ta and sa become mon, ton and son: mon amie (my friend, female), ton école (your school), son histoire (his or her story). You might expect elision instead (m'amie), but French does not elide possessives; it borrows the masculine form, which ends in an n that links smoothly to the next vowel. The noun is still feminine: mon amie est contente, with a feminine adjective.

French has no apostrophe s

English says Karim's bag. French turns it around with de: le sac de Karim (literally the bag of Karim). Remember the contractions from Unit 1: de + le = du, de + les = des, so le chien du voisin (the neighbour's dog) and la maison des Tremblay (the Tremblays' house). To ask who something belongs to, use être à: À qui est ce sac ? — Il est à Karim. (Whose bag is this? — It's Karim's.)

Demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those

Form	When to use it	Examples
ce	masculine singular, before a consonant	ce livre (this/that book), ce garçon (this/that boy)
cet	masculine singular, before a vowel or silent h	cet ami (this/that friend), cet hôtel, cet été (this summer)
cette	feminine singular, always	cette maison (this/that house), cette école
ces	plural, both genders	ces livres (these/those books), ces écoles

One set of words covers both this and that. Cet and cette are pronounced exactly the same; cet exists so that ce does not clash with a following vowel, the same reason bel and nouvel exist.

This one or that one? Add -ci or -là

Usually the situation makes it clear whether you mean this or that. When you need to contrast two things, add -ci (here, this) or -là (there, that) to the noun: Je préfère ce chandail-ci, pas ce chandail-là. (I prefer this sweater, not that sweater.) Chandail is the usual Canadian word for a sweater.

APossessive: whose is it?

mon sac — my bag
ta casquette — your cap
ses gants — his or her gloves
leurs bottes — their boots

BDemonstrative: which one?

ce sac — this or that bag
cette casquette — this or that cap
ces gants — these or those gloves
cet imperméable — this or that raincoat

Three words that sound the same: ses, ces, c'est

Ses (his, her — plural), ces (these, those) and c'est (it is, this is) are all pronounced the same way. In writing, ask what you mean: belonging to someone? ses — Il cherche ses clés (He is looking for his keys). Pointing? ces — Ces clés sont à moi (These keys are mine). It is? c'est — C'est ma clé (It's my key).

In context: at the lost-and-found box after gym class
Emma : Noah, c'est ton sac ?
Noah : Non, mon sac est bleu. Ce sac-là, c'est le sac de Karim.
Emma : Et cette casquette ?
Noah : Oui, c'est ma casquette ! Merci. Et ces gants, ils sont à qui ?
Emma : Ce sont les gants de Zoé. Son écharpe est ici aussi.
Noah : Et cet imperméable ? Et ces bottes ?
Emma : L'imperméable est à Léa, et les bottes sont à Léa et Sam. Ce sont leurs bottes.
Noah : Parfait ! Nos amis vont être contents.

Translation: Emma: Noah, is this your bag? — Noah: No, my bag is blue. That bag there is Karim's bag. — Emma: And this cap? — Noah: Yes, that's my cap! Thanks. And these gloves, whose are they? — Emma: They're Zoé's gloves. Her scarf is here too. — Noah: And this raincoat? And these boots? — Emma: The raincoat is Léa's, and the boots belong to Léa and Sam. They're their boots. — Noah: Perfect! Our friends are going to be happy. Notice son écharpe: écharpe (scarf) is feminine, but it starts with a vowel, so sa becomes son. Notice also cet imperméable (masculine, vowel) beside cette casquette (feminine).

Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives

Key things to remember

Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, our, their

Demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those

Worked examples

Where marks get lost

Flashcards 9

Practice