Possessive determiners

Kurz erklärt

French possessive determiners come before a noun and show who something belongs to. Their form agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner’s gender: son frère can mean ‘his brother’ or ‘her brother’.

Bildung

one owner: mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses; more than one owner: notre/nos, votre/vos, leur/leurs

Verwendung

• Use mon, ton, or son with a masculine singular noun, and ma, ta, or sa with a feminine singular noun.
• Use mes, tes, or ses with plural nouns of either gender.
• Before a feminine singular noun beginning with a vowel sound, use mon, ton, or son: mon amie.
• With nous, vous, and ils/elles as owners, choose the singular or plural form according to the noun: notre maison, nos clés.

Beispiele

• Voici mon téléphone. — Here is my phone.
• Elle cherche ses clés. — She is looking for her keys.
• Nous aimons notre quartier. — We like our neighborhood.
• C’est leur voiture. — It’s their car.

Typischer Fehler

❌ Marie aime sa frère.

✅ Marie aime son frère.

Unlike English her, the French form agrees with the possessed noun. Frère is masculine, so use son even though Marie is female.

Merke

Choose the form from the noun that follows. The owner’s gender does not determine son or sa.