Fr 1.2 pp 47-49 Les pronoms possessifs

LES PRONOMS POSSESSIFS 
mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses;
notre, nos; votre, vos; leur, leurs.

LEARNING ABOUT LANGUAGE

French, like English, shows possession and relationship with POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES. They are adjectives because they describe a noun: my computer - it's not just any computer, the "my" says that I own or possess the computer, hence you get the name the "possessive" : it belongs to me. 

In English, the third person possessive is gender sensitive, that is, sensitive to the gender of the owner; so, if you say, "That is not your computer, that is his computer!" Aha! I may not know who the owner is, but I can certainly tell whether the owner is male or female. If it belonged to one of my sisters, it would be her computer, or at least one of her computers!

French is also gender sensitive, but in a different way. The French have no concern about the gender of the owner. They can care less whether it is his computer or her computer. What matters is that a computer or «ordinateur» is a masculine and singular word, and that the possessive must also be masculine and singular: mon ordinateur, ma maison, mes amis, mes amies.

In French, agreement always comes in two forms: gender and plurality, not only for possessive adjectives, but for every adjective, and for every verb! In the phrases sa maison, son jardin, ses fleurs, ses arbres we have no clue whether the owner is male or female!

Note the forms of the possessive in the charts below: 

 ➜ The feminine singular form ma, ta, sa, become mon, ton, son before a vowel sound.

      une amie             mon‿amie             ton‿amie           son‿amie

    /y.na.'mi/       /mɔ̃.na.'mi/     /tɔ̃.na.'mi/      /sɔ̃.na.'mi/

       

       une auto              mon‿auto              ton‿auto          son‿auto

       /y.nɔ.'to/       /mɔ̃.nɔ.'to/      /tɔ̃.nɔ.'to/       /sɔ̃.nɔ.'to/

➜ There is liaison after mon, ton, son, mes, tes, ses when the next word begins with a vowel sound.

      mon‿oncle           mes‿amis

     /mɔ̃.'nɔ̃.klə/     /me.za.'mi/    

➜ The choice between son, sa, and ses depends on the gender (masculine or feminine) and the number singular or plural) of the noun that follows. It does NOT depend on the gender of the possessor (that is, whether the owner is male or female). Compare:

(Après Fr1.1, p.47)

***

MARC ET HÉLÈNE

Où est mon vélo?

Marc Pertout never knows where his things are. Fortunately, his friend Hélène Sétout knows. Play both roles.

➜ le vélo / dans le garage.

1. les cassettes / ici 

2. la raquette / là-bas

3. la montre / sur toi

4. les livres / dans le sac

5. la radio / sur le bureau

6. les tee-shirts / sous le lit

7. le chien / derrière la porte

8. l'appareil-photo / dans la chambre

***

INVITATIONS

Michel invite sa copine à la fête du lycée. 

C'est la fête du lycée! Each of the following people is bringing a friend of a relative to the school party. Say who each person is inviting, using the appropriate possessive adjectives. 

➜ Michel / la copine.

   Michel invite sa copine.

1. André / la cousine ..........................................................................
 

2. Jean-Claude / la soeur.....................................................................

3. Marie-Noëlle / les frères.................................................................

4. Pascal / l'amie Sophie.....................................................................

5. Monique / les cousins.....................................................................

6. Nathalie / l'ami Marc......................................................................

7. Georges / l'amie Cécile...................................................................

8. Paul / l'amie Thérèse.......................................................................

9. Isabelle / les copains.......................................................................

The French are very proud of their food, so it is often a centerpiece for the High School party. The theme for this party is organic food; the spread features bio-huitres (organic oysters) and bio-pain (organic bread). Bio-this and bio-that has become quite fashionable in France.

***

 CHEZ MARIE ET CHRISTOPHE BOUTIN 
 C'est son vélo et ce sont ses disques.

Items 1 to 8 belong to Marie. Items 9 to 16 belong t Christophe. Point these things out.

***

 EXPRESSION POUR LE CONVERSATION
 Tu es sûr? Tu es sûre?

How to question a statement or express a doubt:

Tu es sûr(e)? /ty.ɛ.'syʀ/ Are you sure? - C'est mon pantalon.

                                                              - Tu es sûr?

***

APRÈS LA SOIRÉE
Voici le sac de Claire. Tu es sûr? Mais oui, c'est son sac.

Last night Frédéric and Paul gave a party. They realize that their friends left certain things behind. Frédéric thinks he knows what belongs to whom.

➜ le sac / Claire.               FRÉDÉRIC: Voici le sac de Claire.

                                                   PAUL: Tu es sûr?

                                         FRÉDÉRIC: Mais oui, c'est son sac!

1. le sac / Jean-Pierre

2. la guitare / Antoine

3. l'appareil-photo / Cécile

4. le walkman / Stéphanie

5. les livres / Philippe

6. le chapeau (hat) / Thomas

7. la cassette / Roger 

8. les compacts / Corinne

(après Fr1.1, p. 48)

***

DEVINETTE: A RIDDLE

DEVINETTE: If you ever lose something in a public area like the train station, the first place to go is to the OBJETS TROUVÉS (often written as OBJET TROUVÉ in the singular) or to the Lost and Found. If you find what you are looking for, you either exclaim, "Le voila!"OR "La voila!" OR "Les voila!" Which expression would you use if you lost ton sac (your bag)? How about "tes gants" (your gloves) or ma parapluie (your umbrella)? Why does the cartoonist make the woman exclaim, "L'voilà!" when she finds what she was looking for? Hint: have you been following the color code in this lesson?

(après Fr1.1, p. 48)

***

LES ADJECTIFS POSSESSIFS:
 notre, nos; votre, vos; leur, leurs.

Note the forms of the possessive adjectives in the chart below:

  
➜ There is liaison after nos, vos, leurs when the next word begins with a vowel sound.

          nos‿amis             vos‿amies            leurs‿ordinateurs

/no.za.'mi/       /vo.za.'mi/      /løʀ.zɔʀ.di.na.'tøʀ/

(après Fr1.1, p. 48)

***

AUX GALERIES LAFAYETTE 
S'il vous plaît, où sont vos disques ?

At the Galeries Lafayette department store, a customer is looking for various things. The person at the information desk indicates where they can be found. Play both roles.

➜ les disques/ là-bas

1. les livres / à gauche (to the left) /a.'ɡoʃ/
2. les affiches / à droit (posters) /a.'dʀwa/
3. le restaurant / en haut (above) /ɑ̃.'no/
4. le garage / en bas (below) /ɑ̃.'ba/
5. les ordinateurs / ici (here) /i.'si/
6. la caféteria / tout droit (straight ahead) /tu.'dʀwa/

Les Galeries Lafayette, la nuit. A quelle heure est-ce que cela commence?

(après Fr1.1, p. 49)

***

LES MILLIARDAIRES 
Voici leur maison! 

Imagine that you are showing the estate of a milliardaire (billionaire) couple to French visitors. 

   
   la maison.

➜ Voici leur maison.

1. la piscine

2. la Cadillac

3. les chiens

4. le parc

5. l'hélicoptère

6. les courts de tennis

7. le yacht

(après Fr1.1, p. 48)

***

Monopoly en français! Notez que tous les noms de rue sont parisiens! A French Monopoly board. All the places on the board refer to a real street or a train station in Paris. Le Boardwalk c'est le Champs-Elysées...bien sûr!

EN FAMILLE 
Pascal joue au tennis avec sa cousine. Éric et Paul jouent au Monopoly avec leurs cousins. 

We often do things with our family. Complete each sentence with a possessive adjective: son, sa, ses, leur, or leurs.

➜ Pascal joue au tennis avec sa cousine.

➜ Éric et Paul jouent au Monopoly avec leurs cousins.

1. Frédéric dîne chez....................oncle.  
2. André dîne chez....................grands-parents. 
3. Caroline et Paul vont chez....................grand-mère. 
4. Mme Vénard fait une promenade avec....................chien. 
5. Antoine va à la piscine avec....................soeur. 
6. Stéphanie et Céline vont au cinéma avec....................parents.
7. M. et Mme Boutin voyagent avec....................fille. 
8. Mme Denis visite Paris avec ....................fils, Marc et Frédéric.
8. M. Mallet est à Québec avec....................femme.

(après Fr1.1, p. 48)

***
LES POSSESSIVES
The Complete Chart

À mémorisez!

 Above is the complete chart showing the possessives

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Français 1-Unité 2, p. 22