Possessives, demonstratives and quantity words

1. Choose mon, ma or mes

   The possessive matches the thing owned, not the owner: mon père, ma mère, mes parents. Ton, ta and tes (your, to a friend) follow the same pattern.

2. Use son, sa and ses for his and her

   Son, sa and ses mean his, her or its, and only the noun decides which one you use: sa chambre is his room or her room. The rest of the sentence tells you whose it is.

3. Use mon before a feminine noun starting with a vowel

   Before a vowel or a silent h, ma, ta and sa become mon, ton and son, even for a feminine noun: mon amie, son école, ton histoire.

4. Use notre, votre and leur

   For one thing owned, use notre (our), votre (your, polite or plural) and leur (their). For more than one, use nos, vos and leurs: leur maison, leurs enfants.

5. Say this and these with ce, cet, cette and ces

   Ce goes before a masculine noun and cette before a feminine one: ce film, cette chanson. Before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or a silent h, use cet: cet été, cet hôtel. Ces is the plural for both: ces livres.

6. Use chaque, plusieurs and quelques

   Chaque (each) never changes and takes a singular noun: chaque jour. Plusieurs (several) never changes either: plusieurs fois. Quelques means a few: quelques amis.

7. Use tout, même and autre

   Tout agrees with its noun: tout le temps, toute la journée, tous les jours, toutes les semaines. Même (same) and autre (other) add -s in the plural: les mêmes questions, d'autres idées.

8. Use aucun and aucuneHigher only

   Aucun means not a single one, or no, and works with ne: je n'ai aucune idée, il n'y a aucun problème. It agrees with its noun but stays singular.

Possessive adjective

A word for my, your, his, her and so on, which agrees with the noun after it: mes chaussures.

son, sa, ses

His, her or its. The form depends on the noun, not the owner, so son vélo can be his bike or her bike.

leur and leurs

Their, for one thing owned and for several: leur chien, leurs chiens.

Demonstrative adjective

A word for this, that, these or those: ce, cet, cette or ces.

cet

This or that, before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or a silent h: cet ordinateur.

chaque

Each or every, always with a singular noun: chaque semaine means every week.

tout, toute, tous, toutes

All or every, agreeing with the noun: tous les matins means every morning.

aucun and aucuneHigher only

No, or not a single one, used with ne: elle n'a aucun ami ici.

• Matching the possessive to the owner, as in sa père for her father.

  The possessive matches the noun: père is masculine, so it is son père, whether it is his father or her father.

• Writing ma amie or sa école.

  Before a feminine noun starting with a vowel or a silent h, use mon, ton or son: mon amie, son école.

• Writing ce hôtel or ce ami.

  Before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or a silent h, ce becomes cet: cet hôtel, cet ami.

• Using leur with a plural noun, as in leur parents.

  With more than one thing owned, it is leurs: leurs parents. Keep leur for one thing: leur maison.

• Making chaque plural, as in chaques jours.

  Chaque never changes and takes a singular noun: chaque jour. For a plural, use tous les: tous les jours.

More Words and sentences topics

• Nouns and articles
• Du, de la, des and de
• Adjectives and adverbs
• Comparatives and superlatives
• Object pronouns, y and en
• Prepositions

Keep reading

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• The GCSE French syllabus, explained