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Mon, ma, mes: a French possessives cheat sheet

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Choose mon, ma, mes and the other French possessives with a full table, four picture cards and eight questions. Includes mon amie and leur versus leurs.

In short

Choose a possessive from the owner’s row, then match the noun: mon sac, ma veste, mes clés. The owner’s gender has no effect: Lina prend son sac and Adam prend sa veste. Before a feminine word beginning with a vowel or mute h, use mon, ton, son: mon amie.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out

Study first: the owner chooses the row
OwnerMasculine singularFeminine singularPlural noun
mymonmames
your (tu)tontates
his / her / itssonsases
ournotrenotrenos
your (vous)votrevotrevos
theirleurleurleurs

Les possessifs · fiche

1 · Let the noun choose the form

Sac is masculine, veste is feminine and clés is plural. That gives mon sac, ma veste and mes clés for any speaker.

Voici mon sac et ma veste. Mes clés sont dans ma poche.Here are my bag and my jacket. My keys are in my pocket.

2 · Son can mean his or her

The possessive follows the noun. To make the owner explicit, name them with de.

Lina cherche son téléphone.Lina is looking for her phone.

Adam cherche sa clé.Adam is looking for his key.

3 · Mon amie stays feminine

Use mon, ton, son directly before a feminine word starting with a vowel or mute h. The following adjective still agrees with the feminine noun.

Mon amie est française.My friend is French.

Ma meilleure amie habite ici.My best friend lives here.

4 · Their can refer to one shared thing

Use leur with one noun in the singular, and leurs with a plural noun. The number of owners leaves this choice open.

Lina et Adam prennent leur voiture.Lina and Adam take their car.

Ils cherchent leurs clés.They are looking for their keys.

5 · The possessive takes the article’s place

Put it directly before the noun or its adjective: ma veste, ma nouvelle veste. The ordinary French phrase has one determiner here.

Je prends ma nouvelle veste.I’m taking my new jacket.

Say whose belongings they are

When do you use mon, ma or mes?

The prompt tells you whose item or person it is. The noun supplies the gender and number. For the female friend, check the first sound too. Choose the missing possessive.

Question 1No account needed
Say “my bag”.Je prends ___ sac.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

mon. Sac is masculine singular. The “my” form for it is mon.

Question 2No account needed
Say “your jacket” to one friend.Tu cherches ___ veste.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

ta. Veste is feminine singular. With tu, use ta.

Question 3No account needed
Refer to Lina’s keys.Lina prend ___ clés.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

ses. Clés is plural, so the possessive is ses, whatever the owner’s gender.

Question 4No account needed
Introduce your female friend.Voici ___ amie française.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

mon. Use mon before the vowel in feminine amie. Française keeps feminine agreement.

Question 5No account needed
Say “our neighbourhood”.Nous aimons ___ quartier.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

notre. The owner is “we” and quartier is singular: notre quartier.

Question 6No account needed
Two friends share one car. Say “their car”.Voici ___ voiture.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

leur. The one shared car is singular, so use leur. Leurs accompanies a plural noun.

Question 7No account needed
Complete the phrase for a female friend.Voici ___ meilleure amie.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

ma. Meilleure begins with a consonant sound, so ma stays before it.

Question 8No account needed
Who can son frère refer to?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Either his brother or her brother. Son agrees with masculine singular frère. Context identifies the owner.

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