Hi guys! Salut à tous! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast and... bonne année! Happy new year! 🎉 🥳 Je vous souhaite plein, plein de bonheur pour cette nouvelle année. I wish you lot, lot of happiness for this new year. 

And also, I'm so happy to be back on the podcast after the holidays! It was great to have a little break, but I missed talking to you guys so much. And... I've got lots of brand new things coming out this year, but I'll let you guys know in due time. 

Anyway, this is episode number 41, numéro 41, and today's lesson is all about the possessive adjectives! 

Because this is a topic that can be a bit full-on for beginners, I've decided to split this lesson into two parts. So today is part 1, and next week will be part 2. 

For this lesson, especially if you've never heard of possessive adjectives before, I strongly recommend you download your lesson's cheat sheet. It's free. After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy library, where you can access your lesson's exercises, as well as all the previous ones. And it's also free. 

So if you're ready, then let's get started. On commence.

WHAT ARE THE POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

For those who don't know, possessive adjectives are "my," "your," "his," her," "its," "our," and "their."  And we'll learn in this lesson what they are in French.

And because I don't want to overwhelm you, and I want to keep this lesson as bite-sized as possible, today we'll only learn how to say "my," "your," "his," and "her." And next week, we'll see how to say "your" (in the plural) "our" and "their." 

So if you look at the cheat sheet right now, I've put all of the possessive adjectives into one chart, so it's easier for you to see the big picture, but today we only focus only on the top part of the chart: "my," "your," "his" and "her.”

Alright, so the first thing that you need to know is that in French, possessive adjectives depend on two things:

1. The gender of the noun (meaning is the noun masculine or feminine?)
2. The number of the noun (meaning is the noun plural or singular?) 

Super important for basically everything in French, you need to know the gender of nouns. 

HOW TO SAY "MY" IN FRENCH 

Alright, now let's start with learning how to say "my." 

There are three ways to say "my" in French: "mon," "ma," & "mes." 

Let's find out which one to use. 

• If the noun is masculine singular, you'll use "mon."

For example: "mon livre." (my book) 📒

• If the noun is feminine singular, you'll use "ma."

For example: "ma voiture." (my car) 🚗

• BUT attention here, if the noun is feminine singular starting with a vowel, you'll use "mon."

For example: "mon école." (my school) 🏫

• If the noun is plural (whether it's feminine or masculine, it doesn't matter), you'll use "mes."

For example: "mes parents." (my parents) 

Très bien. 

HOW TO SAY "YOUR" IN FRENCH

Let's now see how to say "your."

There are three ways to say "your" in French: "ton," "ta," "tes." And you follow the same pattern.

• If the noun is masculine singular, you'll use "ton."

For example: "ton livre." (your book) 📒

• If the noun is feminine singular, you'll use "ta."

For example: "ta voiture." (your car) 🚗

• If the noun is feminine singular starting with a vowel, you'll use "ton."

For example: "ton école." (your school) 🏫

• If the noun is plural (whether it's feminine or masculine, it doesn't matter), you'll use "tes."

For example: "tes parents." (your parents)

Parfait. 

HOW TO SAY "HIS/HER/ITS" IN FRENCH 

Let's now see how to say "his," "her,” or “its.” 

Again, there are three ways to say his or her in French: "son," "sa," & "ses." And as you can see, it's again following the exact pattern. 

• If the noun is masculine singular, you'll use "son."

For example: "son livre." (his/her book) 📒

• If the noun is feminine singular, you'll use "sa."

For example: "sa voiture." (his/her car) 🚗

• If the noun is feminine singular starting with a vowel, you'll use "son."

For example:"son école." (his/her school) 🏫

• If the noun is plural (whether it's feminine or masculine, it doesn't matter), you'll use "ses."

For example: "ses parents." (his/her parents) 

Super.
RECAP

So let's do a quick recap. 

• There are three ways to say "my" in French: "mon," "ma," "mes."
• There are three ways to say "your" in French: "ton," "ta," "tes."
• There are three ways to say "his/her or its" in French: "son," "sa," "ses."

So, that wasn't too bad, right? 😬

The most important thing is to know the gender of the nouns cause it all depends on that. If you're not sure about the gender, quickly check in a dictionary. There are also ways to find out the gender of nouns, which I'll talk about in a future episode, but for now, make sure that each time you learn new vocabulary, you know what the gender is.

And that's the end of today's lesson. As I said before, we'll learn the other possessive adjectives next week. Now, to make sure you've understood everything, go and practice what you've just learned today; without practice, it's a bit hard to retain, so make sure you download your exercises for this lesson. The link is in the episode notes. If you've enjoyed this lesson, I’d really appreciate a quick review on Apple Podcast or send me a message on Instagram; I'd love that. 

Thanks for your time; I'm so so happy to be back with you guys. I'll talk to you next week. 

Merci beaucoup et à bientôt. 💖