In English, if we want to show that something belongs to somebody, we can use an apostrophe and an S. The apostrophe S doesn’t exist in French, though, so how do they show belonging?
Write your awesome label here.

Apostrophe S

In English, as I said, we can put an apostrophe and an S after a person’s name or a noun to say that the next noun belongs to them:

Marie’s house
Pierre’s car
the children’s dog
the school’s door
the man’s book

The proper name for the apostrophe S in English is the Saxon Genitive. In French, the apostrophe S doesn’t exist.

Showing belonging in French

In French, you can show belonging by using the word “de”, which means “of”. You say it’s the thing of somebody.

Marie’s house
the house of Marie
la maison de Marie

Pierre’s car
the car of Pierre
la voiture de Pierre

the children’s dog
the dog of the children
le chien des enfants

the school’s door
the door of the school
la porte de l’école

the man’s book
the book of the man
le livre de l’homme

Just remember that the word “de” contracts with some of the words for “the”:

de + le = du
de + la = de la
de + l’ = de l’
de + les = des

Not just belonging

The apostrophe S doesn’t always show a clear belonging. Have a look at these examples:


the school’s headmaster
the men’s department
tomorrow’s weather

These examples don’t show belonging or possession; the school doesn’t own the headmaster and tomorrow doesn’t own the weather. But the rule about using “de” in French in place of an apostrophe S still stands.

the school’s headmaster
the headmaster of the school
le directeur de l’école

the men’s department
the department of the men
le service des hommes

tomorrow’s weather
the weather of tomorrow
le temps de demain

So, if you want to say something like, “the hotel’s address”, in French, you would have to change it around and say, “the address of the hotel”

l'adresse de l’hôtel – the hotel’s address (the address of the hotel)
l’adresse de Pierre – Pierre’s address (the address of Pierre)
l’adresse du restaurant – the restaurant’s address (the address of the restaurant)

Let's practise

Have a go at saying these sentences in French. Any vocabulary you might need is on the "Vocabulary" tab below.
Sentences
Vocabulary
  1. The woman’s car
  2. The man’s car
  3. The girl’s dog
  4. Pierre’s house
  5. The hotel’s address
  6. The restaurant’s address
  7. The house’s door
  8. The book’s spine
  9. The children’s teacher
  10. The boy’s cat

the woman – la femme
the car – la voiture
the man – l’homme
the house – la maison
the address – l’adresse
the hotel – l’hôtel
the restaurant – le restaurant
the door – la porte
the book – le livre
the spine – le dos
the child – l’enfant
the teacher – le professeur
the boy – le garçon
the cat – le chat

Created with