Essential French Grammar (2012)

Expressing Possession

Comparison of Possessives in English and French

In English, you can say either “the teacher’s book” or “the book of the teacher.” There is no form corresponding to the apostrophe s in French to express possession. Instead a form comparable to “the book of the teacher” is used.

Possessive Adjectives

The French possessive adjectives are as follows:¹³

These words, like other adjectives, agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. Thus, son père may mean his father or her father, and sa sœur may mean his sister or her sister.

Je cherche mon passeport.
I am looking for my passport.

Où sont nos valises?
Where are our valises?

Quelle est votre adresse?
What is your address?

Elle cherche son frère.
She is looking for her brother.

Expressing Possession after the Verb être

The usual way of showing ownership after the verb être (to be), is to use à plus the prepositional form of the pronoun.

Cette place est à moi.
This seat is mine.

Ces papiers sont à nous.
These papers are ours.

We may also express ownership after être by using the proper form of the possessive pronoun, given in the following table.

Cette place est la mienne.
This seat is mine.

Ces papiers sont les nôtres.
These papers are ours.

It should be pointed out that this construction is more emphatic than the use of à moi, etc., discussed above.