Possessive Adjectives
It's time to own this grammar!
Possessive adjectives are an essential component of everyday French, and yet they are kind of tricky for several reasons. For one thing, French has more than twice as many different possessive adjectives as English (15 vs 7), and for another, they don't always translate between the languages quite like you'd expect them to.
So today's issue of Lawless French à fond is an in-depth look at possessive adjectives, for all your owning needs. 😏
Table of Contents
Lessons
Introduction to Possessive Adjectives
French possessive adjectives are used in front of nouns to indicate to whom or to what those nouns belong. There are a total of 15 different French ones, depending on the combination of possessor and the possession. If you find this overwhelming, it can help to look at different ways of dividing them up.
If you're new to French, you probably want to start by focusing on the possessor: who is the owner that you need an adjective for?
Singular owner (my, your, his/her/its)
Plural owners (our, your, their)
If you're a more advanced French speaker, discover more nuance by considering the possessee itself: what is owned?
Singular possession (my book, our book)
Plural possessions (my books, our books)
Quiz Time
Make sure you've mastered all the possessive adjectives with these fill-in-the-blanks quizzes.
Or try this quiz from my French Workbook for Dummies (chapter 4: Showing Up and Owning Up: Demonstratives and Possessives)
🖨️ Download printable PDF with answer key
Feeling confident? Try these additional quizzes testing possessive adjectives vs possessive pronouns:
Listening
Practice your listening skills while keeping an ear out for possessive adjectives.
Les anniversaires de ma famille A1
Marie Curie B1
🙋 A1 - A2 - B1 ?
These are 3 of the 6 CEFR proficiency levels.
Writing
Practice your French translation skills with these writing exercises.
Juste pour rigoler
Comic courtesy of Malachi Ray Rempen, ItchyFeetComic.com
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