Possessive, Demonstrative and Other Determiners

A determiner is a small word placed before a noun to pin down which one you mean. Articles (le, un, du) are determiners, and so are the possessive, demonstrative, interrogative and indefinite adjectives in this lesson. They all share one rule: they agree with the noun that follows in gender and number.

Determiner type	Example	English
Possessive	mon livre	my book
Demonstrative	ce livre	this/that book
Interrogative	Quel livre ?	Which book?
Indefinite	chaque livre	each book

The key idea for the whole lesson: a French determiner tells you the gender and number of the noun before you even read it, so getting the determiner right is part of getting the noun phrase right.

Possessive adjectives translate "my", "your", "his", "her" and so on. The crucial rule is that they agree with the noun that is owned, not with the owner.

Owner	Masc. sing.	Fem. sing.	Plural	English
je	mon	ma	mes	my
tu	ton	ta	tes	your
il / elle	son	sa	ses	his/her/its
nous	notre	notre	nos	our
vous	votre	votre	vos	your
ils/elles	leur	leur	leurs	their

Worked examples:

• mon frère (my brother), ma sœur (my sister), mes parents (my parents)
• notre maison (our house), nos voisins (our neighbours)
• leur voiture (their car), leurs enfants (their children)

Notice notre/votre/leur have only one singular form for both genders; only the plural changes (nos/vos/leurs).

Because possessives agree with the noun owned, son, sa and ses all mean "his", "her" or "its". The form depends only on the noun that follows.

French	Possible meanings
son livre	his book / her book / its book
sa maison	his house / her house
ses amis	his friends / her friends

So Marie aime son frère and Paul aime son frère both use son: the word matches frère (masculine), not Marie or Paul.

Before a feminine noun that begins with a vowel or a silent h, use mon/ton/son instead of ma/ta/sa, to make the phrase easier to say.

Wrong	Correct	Meaning
ma amie	mon amie	my (female) friend
ta école	ton école	your school
sa histoire	son histoire	his/her story

The noun is still feminine — any adjective stays feminine (mon ancienne amie) — but the possessive switches to the masculine-looking form.

Demonstrative adjectives mean "this" or "that". French uses one set of words for both; the exact distance is only made clear when needed (see below).

Form	Used before	Example	English
ce	masculine noun	ce livre	this/that book
cet	masculine noun, vowel or silent h	cet homme	this/that man
cette	any feminine noun	cette fille	this/that girl
ces	any plural noun	ces enfants	these/those children

Use cet (not ce) before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h: cet arbre (this tree), cet hôtel (this hotel). It sounds the same as cette but is spelled differently.

To make the difference between "this" and "that" explicit, add -ci (here) or -là (there) to the noun:

• ce livre-ci = this book (here)
• ce livre-là = that book (there)
• ces fleurs-là = those flowers

The interrogative adjective quel means "which" or "what" and agrees like any adjective.

Form	Example	English
quel	Quel âge as-tu ?	How old are you? (What age?)
quelle	Quelle heure est-il ?	What time is it?
quels	Quels sports ?	Which sports?
quelles	Quelles couleurs ?	Which colours?

Indefinite adjectives cover quantity and identity words. Learn which ones change and which stay fixed.

Adjective	Agreement	Example
chaque	invariable	chaque jour (each day)
plusieurs	invariable	plusieurs fois (several times)
même(s)	adds -s in plural	le même livre / les mêmes idées (the same book / ideas)
autre(s)	adds -s in plural	une autre fois / d'autres amis (another time / other friends)
quelque(s)	adds -s in plural	quelques amis (a few friends)
tout/toute/tous/toutes	agrees fully	tout le monde / toutes les semaines (everyone / every week)

tout ("all", "every", "the whole") is the trickiest indefinite adjective because it has four forms, matching the noun in gender and number.

Form	Gender/number	Example	English
tout	masculine sing.	tout le temps	all the time
toute	feminine sing.	toute la journée	the whole day
tous	masculine pl.	tous les jours	every day
toutes	feminine pl.	toutes les filles	all the girls

Notice that tout is usually followed by another determiner (le, la, les, mes...): tout le monde (everyone), tous mes amis (all my friends).

In tous les jours the final s of tous is silent when it is an adjective before a noun. (When tous stands alone as a pronoun — "all of them" — the s is pronounced, but that use is beyond this lesson.)

1. Matching the possessive to the owner

Son, sa and ses agree with the noun owned, not the person. Both a boy and a girl say son frère for "his/her brother", because frère is masculine.

2. Using ma/ta/sa before a vowel

Say mon amie, ton école, son histoire — never ma amie — even though the noun is feminine. Use mon/ton/son before a feminine noun starting with a vowel or silent h.

3. Forgetting cet before a masculine vowel

Before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h, use cet: cet homme, cet arbre, not ce homme.

4. Not agreeing quel with the noun

Quel changes like an adjective: Quelle heure, Quels livres, Quelles matières. Match the gender and number of the noun that follows.

5. Getting the forms of tout wrong

Use toute la journée (feminine singular) and tous les jours (masculine plural). Mixing them up (tout la journée, toutes les jours) is a common agreement error.