La Possession
Videos
Les Adjectifs Possessifs
La Possession avec "de"
Notes
- "Possession" refers to the process of indicating a noun's ownership.
- In French, there are two ways to show possession/ownership:
> Les adjectifs possessifs (possessive adjectives): my, your, his, etc.
> Possession avec de (possession with "de"): le cahier de John = John's notebook - There are notes for both types of possession below.
Les Adjectifs Possessifs
- Possessive adjectives are words that are used to show who or what owns something without mentioning his/her name.
- In English, our possessive adjectives are "my, your, his/her, our, their" and they do not change depending on the gender and number of the thing being owned.
- The owner will indicate which set of possessive adjectives you choose from.
Ex: If you want to say "my" you will choose either mon, ma, or mes. - The possessive adjective's form (masculine/feminine, singular/plural) will change according to the gender/number of the THING BEING OWNED.
Ex: If what you are owning is feminine and singular, you will choose ma.
my mom = ma mère - Your possessive adjective will ALWAYS come before the noun being owned.
Ex: She is my mom = Elle est ma mère. - Below is a chart of the different possessive adjectives in each of their forms.
- If your noun (thing owned) begins with a vowel and is singular, use the singular, masculine possessive adjective regardless of the noun's gender.
- If your noun is plural, gender doesn't matter!
La Possession avec "de" (the possessive de)
- We can also express possession using the preposition "de" which means "of" in French. This is the same as using 's in English.
- Use this formula to express 's:
(thing being owned) + de + (person owning)
Ex: C'est le chien de Margeurite. > That's Margeurite's dog.
Ex: Elle est la mère de Pierre. > She is Pierre's mom. - When the preposition "de" is followed by the definite articles le and les, they contract to form du and des. This does not happen with l' and la, nor does it happen with proper nouns (names/places).
Ex: de + le = du
L'opinion du grand-père est importante. > The grandfather's opinion is important.
Ex: de + les = des
La fille des voisins a les cheveux châtains. > The neighbor's daughter has brown hair.
Ex: de + la/l' = de la/l'
Elle est la fille de la maison. > She is the daughter of the house. - If the preposition "de" is followed by a vowel, contract it to make " d' ."
Ex: Elle est l'amie d'Annie. > She is Annie's friend.
Activities
Introducing Les Adjectifs Possessifs with "Ma fille, mon enfant"
- Give students a copy of the poem Ma Fille, Mon Enfant in French and English. Underline where one sees les adjectifs possessifs. Here is a PDF of the poem.
- Allow students to listen to a recitation of the poem and follow along.
- Then, have students go through and define unknown words. They can use the English translation or a dictionary.
- Go over the definitions after about 5 minutes.
- Next, have students look closely at the underlined possessive adjectives and develop the rules for why one would use one possessive adjective over another.
- Next, review and share the rules that they developed. If the students are unable to identify how possessive adjectives work, explain it.
Writing with the Possessive de
Directions:
Materials: document with photos (at link above)
L'arbre généaologique possessif
Directions:
Materials: assignment document (at link above)
Directions:
- Students are given a document with photos that have captions in English.
- Students must write the caption in English using the possessive de.
Materials: document with photos (at link above)
L'arbre généaologique possessif
Directions:
- Students create their own family tree with at least three generations.
- Students must identify themselves on the tree.
- To label each relative, students must use a possessive adjective and possession with de to describe their relationship to the person.
Ex: Sister
Ma soeur est la fille de ma mère.
Materials: assignment document (at link above)
Additional Sites
French Tutorial
A step-by-step introduction to possession in French.
French.About
An explanation of all possession in French.
A step-by-step introduction to possession in French.
French.About
An explanation of all possession in French.
Additional Videos
This video explains possessive adjectives.
Video created by YouTubers Ohlalaispeakfrench.
Video created by YouTubers Ohlalaispeakfrench.
This video explains possession with de.
Video created by YouTuber MyFrenchTutor.
Video created by YouTuber MyFrenchTutor.