Saying whose it is in French: mon, ma, mes
By the end of this lesson you can say whose a book or a chair is, and introduce a friend, a brother or a sister. English has one word, "my", and French has three. Which one you use depends on the thing you own, not on whether you are a man or a woman, and that one idea runs through the whole lesson.
First, what you already know
J'ai means "I have" (J'ai un livre), and C'est identifies something (C'est une chaise, "it's a chair"). Every French noun is masculine or feminine, and the article shows which: un livre, une chaise. In the plural the article becomes les and the verb sont, as in Les livres sont sur la table, "the books are on the table". You now need those three things: masculine, feminine and plural.
J'ai un livre.
C'est une chaise.
Les livres sont sur la table.
The words in this lesson
Each possessive here shows its masculine form: mon, ton, son. Son appears twice because it means both "his" and "her". Ton is for someone you call tu. Friend has two written forms, ami for a man and amie for a woman. Frère and sœur are brother and sister.
Two friends at a table
Listen once and follow the small word before each noun: ta chaise, ton livre, mes livres, tes livres. Oui and non are yes and no, and où means "where". Notice the second line: to name the owner, French uses de, as in la chaise de Léa.
- Ainformal
C'est ta chaise ?
- B
Non, c'est la chaise de Léa.
- Ainformal
C'est ton livre ?
- B
Oui, c'est mon livre.
- A
Où sont mes livres ?
- Binformal
Tes livres sont sur la table.
One rule: the thing you own decides
Between mon, ma and mes, the thing you own decides, not whether you are a man or a woman. Livre is masculine, so mon livre. Chaise is feminine, so ma chaise. Plurals take mes, whatever their gender: Mes livres sont ici, "my books are here". Léa and Marc say the same words, because the book and the chair don't change. Listen for mon, ma and mes: the -s of livres is silent, so mes is what tells you there are several.
Oui, c'est mon livre.
C'est ma chaise.
Mes livres sont ici.
Ton, ta, tes: the same three forms for tu
Ton, ta and tes work exactly like mon, ma and mes: ton livre, ta chaise, tes livres. They are for someone you call tu, a friend or a relative. C'est ton livre ? is a question only because the voice rises at the end: no word changes. With J'ai you can now say J'ai ton livre, "I have your book".
ton / ta / tes …
- informal
C'est ton livre ?
- informal
C'est ta chaise ?
- informal
Tes livres sont sur la table.
- informal
J'ai ton livre.
Brother, sister, friend
C'est also introduces people: C'est mon frère, "this is my brother". Frère is masculine and sœur is feminine, so mon frère, ma sœur. Now the one exception: before a vowel sound, ma becomes mon, so a female friend is mon amie, never ma amie, and likewise ton amie and son amie. Ami and amie sound exactly the same, so mon ami and mon amie are identical to the ear, and the name tells you who it is. You also hear the final letter of the possessive join the vowel: the n in mon ami, a z sound in mes amis.
C'est mon frère.
C'est ma sœur.
C'est mon ami Marc.
C'est mon amie Nina.
Mes amis sont ici.
Naming the owner with de
English puts the owner first with 's: Marc's chair. French puts the thing first and joins the owner with de: la chaise de Marc. There is no 's in French. Before a vowel sound de becomes d', as in le livre d'Ana. After de you can also put mon or ma: le livre de mon frère, la table de ma sœur.
le livre de Léa
C'est la chaise de Marc.
C'est le livre d'Ana.
C'est le livre de mon frère.
C'est la table de ma sœur.
Les livres de Léa sont ici.
Son, sa, ses: the trap for English speakers
In English, his and her follow the owner. In French they don't: the same rule applies, so the thing owned decides. In C'est Léa. C'est son frère, it is her brother, with son because frère is masculine. In C'est Marc. C'est sa sœur, it is his sister, with sa because sœur is feminine. So son livre can mean his book or her book, and only the situation tells you. Ses is the plural, as in Ses amis sont ici; for now, keep the owner in view, as in the question and answer about Léa's book.
C'est Léa. C'est son frère.
C'est Marc. C'est sa sœur.
C'est Léa. Ses amis sont ici.
C'est le livre de Léa ?
Oui, c'est son livre.
Just to recognize: le mien
Sometimes people answer with le mien, "mine", instead of repeating the noun. You don't need to say it yet: mon livre does the job. It helps to know it when you hear it.
Oui, c'est le mien.
Your turn: who is it, whose is it?
Read the second speaker aloud. Then answer again with your own people: swap Nina and Marc for names you know, and use ami or amie, frère or sœur. Then try it in the Explorer: find a table or a chair and say C'est ma chaise or C'est la table de Léa. In Marc, c'est ton frère ?, the name comes first and the question follows, like "Marc, is he your brother?".
- Ainformal
C'est ta sœur ?
- B
Non, c'est mon amie Nina.
- A
C'est son livre ?
- B
Non, c'est le livre de Marc.
- Ainformal
Marc, c'est ton frère ?
- B
Oui, c'est mon frère.
What to remember
The owner picks the set (mon, ton or son); the thing owned picks the form inside it, and the owner's gender doesn't count. A named owner comes with de. Masculine takes mon, ton, son; feminine takes ma, ta, sa; plural takes mes, tes, ses. Before a vowel sound the feminine takes mon, ton, son too: mon amie. Say le livre de Léa, with no 's.