Avoir & possessives
J'ai / tu as / il a … plus mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses, notre, votre, leur(s).
Examples
- J'ai un chat.I have a cat.
- C'est mon livre.It's my book.
Two things at once
the verb avoir ("to have") and the possessive adjectives that go with it.
avoir is highly irregular and one of the most-used verbs in the language:
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES agree with the thing OWNED, not with the owner. That is the opposite of English, where "his" and "her" tell you about the owner.
So "his book" and "her book" are BOTH son livre. The form follows livre being masculine, not who owns it.
Sound rule
before a feminine noun starting with a vowel, French switches to the masculine form:
There is no 's in French — possession uses de:
Avoir idioms
French uses avoir where English uses "to be":
And after a negated avoir, the article drops to de:
What you'll practise
1. subj + avoir + obj
j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont — pick the form that matches the subject.
- J'ai un chat.I have a cat.
- Nous avons tes clés.We have your keys.
2. Possessive adjectives mon/ma/mes
Agrees with the noun owned (gender + number), NOT the owner.
- C'est mon livre.It's my book.
- Leurs parents sont gentils.Their parents are nice.
3. Avoir idioms
Uses where avoir doesn't mean 'have' literally: faim, soif, X ans, chaud, froid, raison, peur.
- J'ai faim.I'm hungry.
- J'ai vingt ans.I'm 20.
Practise it until it sticks
Short drills built on these 3 skills, with instant feedback on every answer. Free to start.