Look at these expressions of possession in French:
La maison des Jackson est sur la gauche.
The Jacksons' house is on the left.
Le livre de Paul est sur son lit.
Paul's book is on his bed.
In English, to express possession, we use the 's for example Tara's bag.
There is no equivalent structure in French: instead, we use de or des (of).
Note however two things:
- the object comes first and the owner last (the reverse of English). It's exactly the same as in Old English.
e.g. the book of Paul
- you need to add the definite article le, la, l', les before the first element, as in French you cannot have a noun without an article.
e.g. le livre de Paul - Paul's (x) book
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Le livre de Paul est sur son lit.
Paul's book is on his bed.

Les notes d'Aurélie sont bonnes.
Aurélie's grades are good.
La maison des Jackson est sur la gauche.
The Jacksons' house is on the left.
Le jouet de l'enfant est cassé.
The child's toy is broken.
L'histoire de Marie est extraordinaire!
Marie's story is extraordinary!
Q&A

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
13/11/18
Hi Joan,
Yes, you can say:
"La maison des Jackson est à gauche" also for on the left.

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
18/05/18
Bonjour Yashika !
Both sentences are correct, but mean very different things :)
La maison des Jackson = the Jacksons' / the Jackson family's house
La maison de Jackson = Jackson's house (one person)
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !
Yashika
Kwiziq community member
18/05/18
Thanks a lot.
You are best :*

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
25/05/18
Hi Yashika,
I believe this has been answered by Aurélie earlier, do you have another question?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
19/04/18
In English both options -- with or without "an" -- are possible.
-- Chris.

Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
20/04/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
11/01/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
11/01/18

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
5/09/18
Hi April,
The only case I can think of when you would say 'de moi' is in the following example, meaning 'from me':
Ce cadeau est de moi = This gift is from me.
For possession you could only say, Le stylo est à moi.
Hope this helps!
Chris
Kwiziq community member
11/12/17

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
11/12/17
Chris
Kwiziq community member
11/12/17
That1
Kwiziq community member
11/12/17

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
12/12/17

Sagar
Kwiziq community member
1/02/19
Bonjour, tout le monde.
I have a quick question on the use of 'de' to denote ownership. If I wish to say:"The student's pen", where the student in question happens to be female, would it be correct to say:
"Le stylo d'étudiante" ?

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
29/06/17
This is a very interesting question, and one many people are struggling with :)
The difference comes down to the specificity of "ownership". Let's take two similar examples:
1- la chambre de l'enfant versus 2- la chambre d'enfant
1- The room belongs to a specific child = the child's room
2- The "child" element is characterising the type of room, but doesn't indicate who specifically owns that room = the nursery / "the child room"
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
4/01/17
Sara
Kwiziq community member
6/01/17
Sara
Kwiziq community member
6/01/17

Laura
Kwiziq language super star
14/10/16

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
14/10/16
Nazanin
Kwiziq community member
14/10/16
Nazanin
Kwiziq community member
14/10/16
trip
Kwiziq community member
24 January 2019
3 replies
'Le jouet de l'enfant est cassé' in the corresponding lesson. Here it is DE L'ENFANT then why not DU TOURISME in l'Office de Tourisme? Merci en avan
Chris
Kwiziq community member
24 January 2019
24/01/19
Le jouet de l'enfant is the toy of a particular infante (hence the definite article). L'office de tourisme is the tourist office in general, not of "the" tourism.
trip
Kwiziq community member
24 January 2019
24/01/19
Tysm for taking out tym to answer the question Chris and the lawless team.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
25 January 2019
25/01/19
You,re welcome! :)