Showing possession with 'de' in French

• To show possession in French, the prepositionde is used.

• Unlike in English, French does not use apostrophes to show possession.

• When de is followed by le, the two words combine to make du.

• When de is followed by les, the two words combine to make des.

In English, the possessive ‘s is used to express possession. In French, de is used.

For example:

• C’est le livre de Théo.

This translates literally as 'it is the book of Théo', but 'it is Théo’s book' is a better, more natural, translation.

Here are some more examples with their natural translations in English:

• Les voitures de mes parents – My parents’ cars

• La sécurité de la maison est importante. – The house’s security is important.

• Tu as vu la chemise de mon frère ? – Have you seen my brother’s shirt?

If the noun to whom or which something belongs is masculine singular, de and le contract together to become du.

de + le → du

For example:

Similarly, if the noun to whom or which something belongs is plural, de and les contract together to become des.

de + les → des

For example:

Practise what you've learned about showing possession with de in French with this quiz.

Now you’ve learned how to show possession using de, why not explore future phrases?