French grammar · A1 · Lesson 10
Possessives: mon, ma, mes, son, sa, ses
French possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses; notre, votre, leur) agree with the thing owned, never with the owner. Son bras is “his arm” or “her arm”, because bras is masculine. Before a feminine noun that starts with a vowel, French uses the masculine form: son amie.
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How does it work?
A French possessive agrees with the thing owned, like an adjective, and pays no attention to who owns it.
| masculine | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | mon bras | ma main | mes yeux |
| your (tu) | ton bras | ta main | tes yeux |
| his / her / its | son bras | sa main | ses yeux |
| our | notre enquête | nos indices | |
| your (vous) | votre bras | vos cheveux | |
| their | leur bateau | leurs cabines | |
So son bras can be his arm or her arm: bras is masculine, so it is son either way. And sa main is his hand or her hand. If you really need to say whose, add de: le bras de Rozaine.
The vowel rule. Before a feminine noun starting with a vowel or silent h, ma, ta, sa would clash with the vowel, and French cannot use an apostrophe here. So it borrows the masculine form: son amie (Nelly’s friend, lady Jerland), mon idée, ton histoire. The noun stays feminine; only the little word changes.
One more detail. With parts of the body, when it is obvious whose they are, French often uses plain le or la where English insists on a possessive. Leblanc writes il avait montré le bras gauche, “he had shown the left arm”: whose else would it be?
What does it look like in the story?
These sentences come from lesson 10, “Monsieur Rozaine”, where the narrator is crossing the Atlantic on the liner Provence with Arsène Lupin hidden among the passengers.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Mon nom commence par R. Et mes cheveux sont blonds. | My name begins with R. And my hair is fair. |
| Ses lèvres sont minces et blanches. | His lips are thin and white. |
| Il montre son bras. | He shows his arm. |
Try it: The lips and the arm both belong to the same man, Rozaine. So why ses lèvres but son bras? What decides the form: the owner, or the thing owned?
« D'un geste nerveux il releva sa manchette et découvrit son bras. »
With a nervous gesture he pulled back his cuff and bared his arm. Maurice Leblanc, L’Arrestation d’Arsène Lupin (1905).
How is it different from English?
In English, “his” or “her” depends on the owner. In French, son, sa or ses depends on the thing owned. Nelly’s arm is son bras, Rozaine’s hand is sa main. It feels backwards for about a week, and then it feels obvious.
What mistake do English speakers make?
The classic slip: thinking “her arm, she is a woman, so sa”: ✗ sa bras. But bras is masculine, so ✓ son bras, even for Nelly. The second slip runs the other way: ✗ sa amie, ✓ son amie, because of the vowel.
Where can I practise it?
- Lesson 10: Monsieur Rozaine: the story, the rule and interactive exercises, free.
- Review 2: lessons 6 to 10: this point again, in a summary table with the other lessons of the block.
- The A1 glossary: every word of the course, French to English.
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