How do you say my in French?

Mon, ma, or mes, chosen by the noun that follows rather than by you. Mon vélo, ma voiture, mes clés. Before a feminine noun starting with a vowel you still use mon for the sound: mon amie, mon adresse.

Why is there no apostrophe-s in French?

French marks the relationship with a preposition instead of an ending, and it puts the possessed thing first. Peter's book becomes le livre de Pierre, which reads literally as the book of Pierre. There is no way to attach the ownership to the owner.

What's the difference between c'est à moi and c'est le mien?

Both mean it's mine. C'est à moi is the ordinary spoken answer to à qui est-ce ?, and it emphasises the claim. C'est le mien picks one item out of several and agrees with it: la rouge, c'est la mienne.

Why does French say je me lave les mains instead of mes mains?

Because the reflexive pronoun me has already told you whose hands they are. Repeating the information with a possessive is unnecessary, and it makes the body part sound oddly separate from its owner.

How do you say whose in French?

In a question, à qui for ownership (à qui est ce sac ?) and de qui for authorship (de qui est ce livre ?). Inside a sentence, use dont: c'est l'élève dont les parents sont profs, that's the pupil whose parents are teachers.

French grammar · Beginner

How to Show Possession in French: De, Mon, and Être À

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

French has no apostrophe-s. Ownership is shown with de before the owner (la voiture de Paul), with a possessive adjective before the thing owned (mon vélo), or with être à plus a person (ce sac est à moi). Body parts usually take a plain article instead.

C'est la voiture de mon frère ; elle est à lui.

It's my brother's car; it belongs to him.

What it is

English can bolt an apostrophe and an s onto the owner. French can't, so it reverses the order and links the two nouns with de: the thing first, then de, then the owner. Alongside that, a set of possessive adjectives does the work of my, your, and his.

le sac de Marie, mon sac, ce sac est à moi — Marie's bag, my bag, this bag is mine.

How to spot it

Decide what you're naming. If you're naming the object and the owner is a noun, use de. If the owner is a person you'd call I, you, or she, use a possessive adjective. If you're insisting on who owns it, use être à.

le chien du voisin — the neighbour's dog (owner is a noun)
son chien — his dog / her dog (owner is a pronoun)
Ce chien est à elle. — This dog is hers. (insisting on ownership)
Elle s'est cassé le bras. — She broke her arm. (body part, plain article)

De contracts with the definite article: de + le gives du and de + les gives des. La voiture du directeur, les clés des voisins.

Possession Quick Reference

Every way French expresses ownership

Structure	Shape	Example	English
Possessive adjective	mon / ma / mes + noun	mon appartement	my flat
De + owner	noun + de + owner	la maison de Julie	Julie's house
De + article, contracted	noun + du / des + owner	le bureau du patron	the boss's office
Être à	être à + name or stressed pronoun	Ce vélo est à toi.	This bike is yours.
Appartenir à	appartenir à + person	Ce terrain appartient à ma tante.	This land belongs to my aunt.
Possessive pronoun	le mien, la tienne, les leurs	C'est le mien.	It's mine.
Definite article (body)	reflexive verb + le / la + body part	Je me brosse les dents.	I'm brushing my teeth.
Dont in a relative clause	… dont le / la …	l'homme dont la voiture est rouge	the man whose car is red

Common Possession Examples in French

The same idea expressed four different ways:

De: Naming the Owner

le livre de Paul: Paul's book
la chambre de ma sœur: my sister's bedroom
les jouets des enfants: the children's toys
la fin du film: the end of the film

The order is always thing first, owner second. Reading it as of rather than 's makes the word order feel natural.

Possessive Adjectives

Mon train part à six heures.: My train leaves at six.
Ta clé est sur la table.: Your key is on the table.
Ils ont vendu leur maison.: They sold their house.
Nos voisins sont très gentils.: Our neighbours are very kind.

These agree with the thing owned, not with the owner, which is why son sac can mean his bag or her bag.

Être À: Insisting on Ownership

Ce manteau est à moi.: This coat is mine.
À qui est ce parapluie ?: Whose umbrella is this?
Ces places sont à nous.: These seats are ours.
La décision est à toi.: The decision is yours.

Être à takes a stressed pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles), never a subject pronoun.

The Body Takes an Article

J'ai mal à la tête.: My head hurts.
Il s'est coupé le doigt.: He cut his finger.
Elle a les yeux verts.: She has green eyes.
Lève la main.: Put your hand up.

The owner is already obvious from the verb, so French drops the possessive. Je lave mes mains sounds as odd as I wash the hands does in English.

The Logic Behind French Possession

Once you accept that French names the object before the owner, the rest follows from ordinary agreement rules.

There Is No Apostrophe-S

French never marks the owner with an ending. The relationship is carried entirely by the preposition de, and the two nouns swap places compared with English.

la voiture de mon père

my father's car

Thing + de + owner.

De Contracts With Le and Les

When the owner carries a definite article, de merges with it. De le becomes du and de les becomes des. La and l' are left alone, so de la and de l' stay as they are.

le bureau du directeur, les vélos des enfants

the director's office, the children's bikes

du, de la, de l', des.

Possessive Adjectives Agree With the Thing

This is the biggest departure from English. Son and sa are chosen by the gender of the object, not the sex of the owner, so sa voiture is his car or her car depending only on who's being discussed.

Marc cherche sa clé et Anne cherche son sac.

Marc is looking for his key and Anne is looking for her bag.

Look at the object, not the owner.

Être À Answers the Question Whose

To assert ownership rather than simply mention it, French uses être à with a stressed pronoun. This is the natural answer to à qui est… ?, and it's more common in speech than the possessive pronoun le mien.

— À qui sont ces gants ? — Ils sont à moi.

'Whose gloves are these?' 'They're mine.'

à qui → à moi.

Repeat the Possessive Before Each Noun

English can say my brother and sister. French can't share a determiner across two nouns, so each one needs its own, and each agrees with its own noun.

mon frère et ma sœur

my brother and sister

One determiner per noun.

Common Mistakes with Possession

Incorrect: Paul voiture — Paul's car

Correct: la voiture de Paul — Paul's car

French has no possessive ending on the owner. The object comes first, then de, then the owner, and the object keeps its own article.

Incorrect: C'est mien. — It's mine.

Correct: C'est le mien. — It's mine.

The possessive pronoun always carries its article: le mien, la mienne, les miens. In everyday speech most people say c'est à moi instead.

Incorrect: Je lave mes mains. — I'm washing my hands.

Correct: Je me lave les mains. — I'm washing my hands.

The reflexive pronoun me already says whose hands they are, so the body part takes a plain article. Using both is redundant in French.

Incorrect: les clés de les voisins — the neighbours' keys

Correct: les clés des voisins — the neighbours' keys

De and les must merge into des. The same contraction applies to de le, which becomes du: le chien du voisin.

Where French Doesn't Use a Possessive at All

Three contexts where the English instinct to reach for my or your produces the wrong French.

Parts of the body

When the owner is already identified by the subject or by a reflexive pronoun, French uses the definite article. Adding a possessive suggests the body part has been detached.

Je me lave les mains.: I'm washing my hands.
Il a levé la tête.: He raised his head.
Elle s'est foulé la cheville.: She sprained her ankle.
Ferme les yeux.: Close your eyes.

The possessive comes back when the body part is qualified: ses longs cheveux blonds, her long blonde hair.

Clothing you're wearing

The same logic extends to clothes when the sentence already makes the wearer clear, particularly with mettre and enlever.

Il a enlevé son manteau.: He took his coat off.
Mets ton écharpe.: Put your scarf on.
Elle avait les mains dans les poches.: She had her hands in her pockets.

Clothes hold on to the possessive more stubbornly than body parts do, so son manteau is normal where sa tête would not be.

Asking whose it is

French splits the English whose into two questions. À qui asks who owns it; de qui asks who made or wrote it.

À qui est cette valise ?: Whose suitcase is this?
De qui est ce tableau ?: Who is this painting by?
C'est le vélo de qui ?: Whose bike is it?

Inside a statement rather than a question, whose becomes dont: la femme dont le fils est médecin.

Possession FAQs

How do you say my in French?: Mon, ma, or mes, chosen by the noun that follows rather than by you. Mon vélo, ma voiture, mes clés. Before a feminine noun starting with a vowel you still use mon for the sound: mon amie, mon adresse.
Why is there no apostrophe-s in French?: French marks the relationship with a preposition instead of an ending, and it puts the possessed thing first. Peter's book becomes le livre de Pierre, which reads literally as the book of Pierre. There is no way to attach the ownership to the owner.
What's the difference between c'est à moi and c'est le mien?: Both mean it's mine. C'est à moi is the ordinary spoken answer to à qui est-ce ?, and it emphasises the claim. C'est le mien picks one item out of several and agrees with it: la rouge, c'est la mienne.
Why does French say je me lave les mains instead of mes mains?: Because the reflexive pronoun me has already told you whose hands they are. Repeating the information with a possessive is unnecessary, and it makes the body part sound oddly separate from its owner.
How do you say whose in French?: In a question, à qui for ownership (à qui est ce sac ?) and de qui for authorship (de qui est ce livre ?). Inside a sentence, use dont: c'est l'élève dont les parents sont profs, that's the pupil whose parents are teachers.