There are four grammatical constructions used to express possession in French: adjectives, pronouns, and two different prepositions. Take a look at this summary of the different French possibilities, and then follow the links for detailed information.
Possessive de
The preposition de is used with a
name or a
noun in place of 's or s' in English.
le livre de Jean - John's book
la chambre des filles - the
girls' room
Possessive à
The preposition à is used with the
verb être in front of
stressed pronouns in
order to emphasize the ownership of the object.
Ce livre est à lui - This book is his
C'est un ami à moi -
He's a friend of mine
Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of
articles to indicate to whom
or to what
something belongs. The English equivalents are my, your, his, her, its, our,
and their.
Voici votre livre - Here's
your book
C'est son livre - It's his book
Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns are the words which
replace a possessive
adjective + noun. The English equivalents are mine, yours, his, hers, its,
ours, and theirs.
Ce livre... c'est le vôtre ou le sien ? - This book... is it yours or
his?
