A2 · The nouns
Possession with de
The owner goes last, with de in front of them.
At a glance
- Remember
- First the thing, then de, then the owner.
- Form
- la voiture de PierrePeter's car
- Signal words
- de Pierre
- du voisin
- des enfants
- de la maison
- à qui est
- Trap
- Wrong:La couleur de le mur est trop foncée.Right:La couleur du mur est trop foncée.
Your turn
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The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French.
| Peter's car | la voiture de Pierre |
| Marie's brother | le frère de Marie |
| the neighbour's car | la voiture du voisin |
| the children's toys | les jouets des enfants |
| the door of the house | la porte de la maison |
| the lawyer's office | le bureau de l’avocat |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The thing comes first, the owner last.
C’est la voiture de mon père.That is my father's car.
Before le, de becomes du; before les, des.
Le chien du voisin aboie toute la nuit.The neighbour's dog barks all night.
Before la and before l’, de stays separate.
La fenêtre de la cuisine est ouverte.The kitchen window is open.
À qui est … ? asks who the owner is.
À qui est ce parapluie ?Whose umbrella is this?
Example sentences
Le vélo de ma sœur est dans le garage.My sister's bike is in the garage.
J’ai trouvé les clés de la voiture.I have found the car keys.
C’est l’anniversaire du directeur demain.It is the director's birthday tomorrow.
Les parents des élèves attendent dehors.The pupils' parents are waiting outside.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
A de le never appears on the page. The moment a le follows, the two become du — without exception, and in the middle of a long chain as much as at the start. La couleur de le mur is not a beginner's slip that gets tidied up later; the form is simply not provided for.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
English has two ways of saying who owns something — «Peter's car» and «the car of Peter» — and prefers the first for people. French has only the second: la voiture de Pierre. The apostrophe s does not exist in any form, so the ordering you use most is the one that has to go.
In front of a name de stands alone: le frère de Marie. In front of a noun with an article it merges: de plus le gives du, de plus les gives des. So la voiture du voisin, les jouets des enfants. Before la and before a vowel it stays apart: la porte de la maison, le bureau de l'avocat.
That is one half of possession. The other is mon, ton, son, which stand in place of the article — mon livre against le livre de Pierre. The two cannot be combined: one or the other.
There are two ways of asking. À qui est ce sac ? asks who owns it and is answered with C'est à moi. C'est le sac de qui ? asks the same thing and sounds more spoken.
Several levels chain together in the French order and stay in it: la clé de la porte du garage. English would say «the garage door key» and read it backwards; French reads forwards, and the thing itself always comes first.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: être · avoir · attendre · trouver