Mon, Ma, Mes: French Possessives and the His/Her Surprise
A1In this article, you'll learn
French possessives look like a simple vocabulary list — until you meet the rule that breaks every English speaker’s brain for a week: sa voiture can mean HIS car or HER car. French possessives agree with the thing owned, never the owner. Here’s the whole system.
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The table
| Owner | + masc. | + fem. | + plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | mon père | ma mère | mes parents |
| tu | ton père | ta mère | tes parents |
| il / elle | son père | sa mère | ses parents |
| nous | notre père / mère | nos parents | |
| vous | votre père / mère | vos parents | |
| ils / elles | leur père / mère | leurs parents | |
The his/her surprise
« Elle lave sa voiture » — her car. « Il lave sa voiture » — HIS car. Sa agrees with voiture (feminine), and couldn’t care less who owns it. When French really needs to disambiguate, it adds à lui / à elle: « C’est son idée à elle. »
The mon amie rule
Before a vowel sound, ma/ta/sa switch to mon/ton/son — even for feminine nouns: mon amie, ton école, son histoire. Pure euphony again (French despises « ma amie »), and the noun stays feminine: mon amie est géniale.
Mine, yours: the pronoun versions
Drop the noun and upgrade: le mien, la mienne, les miens… « C’est ta tasse ? — Non, c’est la mienne. » Full paradigm on the possessive pronouns chart.
FAQ
Why is it « leur » with no -e for feminine?
Leur is gender-blind: leur père, leur mère. It only takes -s for plural things: leurs enfants. (Don’t confuse it with the pronoun leur = “to them”: je leur parle.)
How do the French say « my » with body parts?
Often they don’t! With reflexive verbs the article does the job: je me lave les mains (not mes mains). The pattern lives in the reflexive verbs guide.
Votre or vos with vous-as-polite-singular?
Match the noun, not the politeness: votre manteau (one coat), vos gants (gloves) — even talking to one person. The tu/vous choice itself is covered in tu vs vous.
Practise on the demonstratives & possessives chart — family vocabulary is the natural gym: la famille.
Quick practice
Play the Quiztap to start · quick practice from this material
Keep going: Practise the whole set on the family tree: French family vocabulary.
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