Possessive adjectives in French: their distinctive features and characteristics

Les adjectifs possessifs is a class of frequently used words, denoted as "possessive adjectives". In French their role is significant. They are used much more often than a similar group of words in the Russian grammar.

The difference of concepts

Possessive adjectives in French correspond to possessive pronouns in Russian. They express the belonging of the object to some person: mine, ours, them. Like adjectives, they are consistent with the main word (noun) by gender, number and case.

Unlike Russian pronouns, adjectifs possessifs ignore the gender of the owner, focusing on the subject of attraction. The genus of the noun's name is important, which is said: Marie / Paul ferme son livre. In Russian, the possessive pronouns in the first and second persons of the singular number also behave: your choice is your way. As can be seen from the example, the generic sign of the word standing after it, rather than the subject of attraction, is important for the pronoun. In the plural, the difference disappears, since there is no division into the masculine and feminine gender.

There are also possessive adjectives in Russian, but they mean different words under this category. They also express an object's belonging to some person, but they call it, that is, they are formed from a noun, including on behalf of one's own: the grandmother's house, pansies.

Les Adjectifs possessifs and Pronoms possesifs

Why are pronouns and possessive adjectives divided in French? From the term "pronoun" one can clearly understand that this is a word that is used "instead of a name". It is independent, requires the use of a definite article and is used in the French sentence in place of a noun with a possessive adjective.

For pronouns, there is a declination paradigm different from adjectives. In Russian grammar, these two categories of the French language are expressed by the class of pronouns. The difference is that the use of pronouns with a noun in Russian sentences is optional, except for some syntactic constructions of the language. The most frequent use of the pronoun "own" as an analogue of adjectifs possessifs: "He took off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair."

Ways to learn grammar

It will help to quickly learn the possessive adjectives in the French language table, which contains their complete paradigm of declension by persons and numbers.

With several subjects of action, the possessive pronoun is not differentiated by birth, but only in number. Do not forget that with feminine nouns with an initial h-dumb or vowel, an adjective of the masculine gender is used: mon arme, ton hache.

The second effective way to quickly remember the possessive adjectives in French is the exercises. They are the same type and consist in choosing the right form of the adjective, which should be put in place of the blank in the sentence. For example:

Vous la connaissez cette jeune femme? - Oui, c'est ... épouse.

Voici la voiture de Derrick. Voici ... voiture.

Naturally, the required number of exercises depends on the personal speed of learning the information, but the more they are performed, the easier it will be to use possessive adjectives in speech. The purpose of such exercises is to bring the knowledge of the grammatical category to automaticity in order not to waste time on selecting the desired form in the future.

The role of possessive adjectives in the language

Possessive adjectives in French are a frequently used unit of grammar, which is also expressed in proverbs and sayings: for example, on prend ses jambes à son cou - so they say who is in a hurry.

Knowledge of the category of possessive adjectives is a prerequisite for successful communication in French, since many syntactic constructions can not do without this class of words.