French Podcast Transcripts

How to make sentences with ‘my’ ‘your’ ‘her’ ‘his’ ‘its’ in French?

by Sev

How to make sentences with ‘my’ ‘your’ ‘her’ ‘his’ in French? Find out about the French ‘possessive adjectives’. A possessive adjective is a word which describes a noun by showing who possesses that noun.

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How to make sentences with ‘my’ ‘your’ ‘her’ ‘his’ ‘its’ in French?

Today, we will only use possessive adjectives pour ONE possessor.

#1 Understanding possessive adjectives in French?

First, let’s look at these sentences in English:

This is my seat

This is my bag

This is my apple

These are my suitcases

You notice that ‘my’ is used with all the different nouns. In French, ‘My’ will be translated in three different ways because in French ‘My’ will have different endings to match with the gender and number of what is possessed. So you will have a stem and you will add the three different endings! Don’t panic, you only need to apply two steps.

What are the two steps to choose the correct possessive adjective in French?

Step One: Indicate the possessor with the first letter

This is the stem. Like English, the possessive adjective changes according to the possessor. 

My  –> m-

Your  –> t-

His/Her/its –> s-

Step two: add the correct ending to the stem.

Unlike English, the French possessive adjective also agrees with the noun possessed. The endings will match with the gender and plural of the noun. 

Noun possessed is Feminine Singular -> add -a

Noun possessed is Masculine Singular -> add -on

Noun possessed is plural (regardless of gender) -> add -es

#1 How to say ‘my’ in French?

To say ‘my’ in French, first, you use the stem ‘M’ (for ‘me’) and you will add different endings.

Let’s apply the steps above:

This is my seat

  1. My: –> m-
  2. Seat: ‘place’ feminine singular —> -a
  3. selection: m-+ -a
  4. C’est ma place

M+A if the noun is feminine singular such as c’est MA place (this is my seat)

M+ON if the noun is masculine singular, such as c’est MON sac (this is my bag)

M+ES if the noun is plural, such as ce sont MES valises (these are my suitcases)

And if the singular noun start with a vowel? You use ‘MON‘, regardless of the gender such as c’est ‘MON’ omelette (You’ll rule the French breakfast buffet!)

#2 How to say ‘your’ in French?

You will apply the same rule, but now your stem is ‘T‘

T+A if the noun is feminine such as c’est TA place (this is your seat)

T+ON if the noun is masculine, such as c’est TON sac (this is your bag)

T+ES if the noun is plural, such as ce sont TES valises (these are your bags)

And if the singular noun start with a vowel? You use ‘TON‘, regardless of the gender such as ‘c’est ‘TON‘ omelette’

#3 How to make sentences with ‘her’ ‘his’ ‘its’ in French?

Make sure that the ending of the possessive adjectives agrees with the noun, NOT WITH THE GENDER OF THE POSSESSOR.

Let’s apply the steps:

Paul talks to his mother

  1. His: – s
  2. Mother: mère, feminine singular
  3. selection: s-+-a

Paul parle à sa mère

Paul talks to his father

  1. His: – s
  2. father: père, masculine singular
  3. Selection: s-+-on

Paul parle à son père

You will apply the same rule, but now your stem is ‘S’

S+A if the noun is feminine such as c’est SA place (this is her/his seat)

S+ON if the noun is masculine, such as c’est SON sac (this is her/his bag)

S+ES if the noun is plural, such as ce sont SES voitures (these are her/his bags)

And if the singular noun start with a vowel? You use ‘SON‘, regardless of the gender such as ‘c’est ‘SON’ omelette’

That’s it: How to make sentences with ‘my’ ‘your’ ‘her’ ‘his’ ‘its’ in French?. How did you find this episode? I hope it was a five-start experience for you. I really want to be helpful and share my knowledge with you. So if you want to help other listeners to discover my podcast, go ahead an leave a five star rating on Spotify (only in the app), Apple podcast, Audible….

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Merci et à bientôt, Séverine