{"id":30124,"date":"2018-04-11T20:40:59","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T18:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=30124"},"modified":"2018-04-11T22:27:10","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T20:27:10","slug":"his-or-her-cup-confusing-possessive-adjectives-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/his-or-her-cup-confusing-possessive-adjectives-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"His Or Her Cup? – Confusing Possessive Adjectives In French"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing from la semaine derni\u00e8re<\/strong><\/a> (last week), understanding how le genre d’un mot <\/strong>(the gender of a word) affects la grammaire fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> (French grammar) can be hard to grasp for non-native speakers. Any tips that can help with internalizing why les genres<\/strong> are so important and just how they work makes learning la langue<\/strong> (the language) a little less painful.<\/p>\n

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Image<\/a> by Olga Khomitsevich on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

A small part of grammar where the concept of les genres<\/strong> exists both en fran\u00e7ais et en anglais<\/strong> is pronouns<\/a>. For understanding how les genres<\/strong> work in French, a subset of pronouns, les adjectifs possessifs<\/strong> (possessive adjectives), are especially interesting, since they are gendered words that are attached to the noun in both English and French.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, voici les pronoms et les adjectifs possessifs :<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pronoms : Je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils<\/strong>
\nAdjectifs possessifs : Mon\/ma\/mes, ton\/ta\/tes, son\/sa\/ses, notre\/nos, votre\/vos, leur\/leurs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pronouns: I, you, he, she, one, we, you, they<\/em>
\nPossessive Adjectives: My, your, his, her, its, our, their<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is a tricky difference hiding in these small words and knowing about it can help les anglophones<\/strong> (English speakers) avoid making mistakes<\/a> en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong>. It has to do with how les adjectifs possessifs<\/strong> treat the grammatical idea of un genre<\/strong> very differently.<\/p>\n

In both languages les adjectifs possessifs<\/strong> have to agree with le genre d’un mot<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

La tasse \u2192 Sa tasse<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cup \u2192 His\/her\/their cup<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, with an example it’s easy to see how in French l’adjectif possessif<\/strong> agrees with the attached noun, but not in English.<\/p>\n

En anglais<\/strong>, the possessive adjective<\/em> agrees with who actually possesses the noun. That makes it impossible to properly translate “son tasse<\/a>“<\/strong> without more context.<\/p>\n

This difference gets even more complicated when talking about people:<\/p>\n

Son patron – <\/strong>His\/her\/their boss<\/em><\/p>\n

His boss – <\/em>Son\/sa patron\/patronne<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

La version fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> (the French version) agrees with the attached noun again, but this time also gives us information about le genre du patron <\/strong>(the gender of the boss). On the other hand, la version anglaise<\/strong> gives us information about who possesses the noun or in this case about le genre de l’employ\u00e9<\/strong> (the gender of the employee).<\/p>\n

Combining all these complicated rules is hard to understand, so let’s break it down further:<\/p>\n

La tasse \u2192 Sa tasse<\/strong> – The possessive adjective agrees with gender of the word “tasse”<\/strong>.
\n<\/strong>The cup \u2192 His cup <\/em>– The person who owns the cup is male.
\nThe cup \u2192 Her cup<\/em> – The person who owns the cup is female.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Le patron <\/strong>\u2192 Son patron<\/strong> – The boss<\/a> is male and we do not know the gender of the employee.
\nThe boss <\/em>\u2192 <\/strong>His boss<\/em> – The employee is male and we do not know the gender of the boss.<\/p>\n

La patronne \u2192 Sa patronne<\/strong> – The boss is female and we do not know the gender of the employee.
\nThe boss \u2192<\/strong> Her boss<\/em> – The employee is female and we do not know the gender of the boss.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

En fran\u00e7ais<\/strong>, les adjectifs possessifs<\/strong> always agree with the noun that follows, but in English, the possessive adjective<\/em> always agrees with who possesses the noun.<\/p>\n

Keeping these rules in mind is a step towards mastering la langue<\/strong> and more importantly will help you not confuse les francophones<\/a><\/strong> (French speakers) by using the wrong word<\/a>!<\/p>\n

If you are still confused, ce qui est important<\/strong> (what’s important) is knowing that you cannot think in English<\/a> and use les adjectifs possessifs<\/strong> in French like you would en anglais<\/strong>. Don’t worry, with practice la grammaire<\/strong> will become clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Continuing from la semaine derni\u00e8re (last week), understanding how le genre d’un mot (the gender of a word) affects la grammaire fran\u00e7aise (French grammar) can be hard to grasp for non-native speakers. Any tips that can help with internalizing why les genres are so important and just how they work makes learning la langue (the…<\/p>\n

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