Mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses = my; your; his / her in French (French possessive adjectives)

Unlike in English, in French, singular subjects have three possessive adjectives: masculine, feminine, plural.

Possessive adjectives of singular subjects in French

Look at these sentences:

Il déteste son frère.He hates his brother.

Tu as ton crayon ?Do you have your pencil?

J'aime mon chien.I love my dog

Jean aime ses parents.Jean loves his parents.

Note that the equivalent of 'my''your' or 'his/her' etc. are:

  Singular Plural
English (masc objects) (fem objects) (masc/fem)
my mon
ma
mes
your (tu)  ton
ta
tes
his/her son
sa
ses

Note the similarity of the forms.

These are called possessive adjectives. 

IMPORTANT: It's tempting to try to 'agree' these with the gender of the owner but only the first letter is determined by the owner (m = my; t = your, s = his/her) etc. The rest of the adjective is related to the gender and number of the thing they own

Lisa adore son frère.Lisa adores her brother.

Il équipe sa voiture d'un gyrophare.He's fitting his car with flashing (police) light.

 

More Possessive Adjectives

Notre/nos/votre/vos/leur/leurs = our/your/their (French Possessive Adjectives)

and the more advanced

Common mistakes with mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes and son/sa/ses (French Possessive Adjectives)

"Ma" becomes "mon" with feminine nouns starting with a vowel or mute h (French Possessive Adjectives)

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Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Il déteste son frère.He hates his brother.
Elle adore sa poupée.She loves her doll.
Jean aime ses parents.Jean loves his parents.
Il équipe sa voiture d'un gyrophare.He's fitting his car with flashing (police) light.
...avec sa canne dans la main.... with his cane in his hand.
Tu as ton crayon ?Do you have your pencil?
J'aime mon chien.I love my dog

ATTENTION !


Lisa adore son frère.Lisa adores her brother.
Let me take a look at that...