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Using de to Show Possession

FoundationHigherAQA

Practise Using de to Show Possession for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). De shows possession, as in le sac de Léa meaning Léa's bag.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

WorksheetFoundation · PDFMark SchemeFoundation · PDF

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

French has no apostrophe-s for possession, so ownership is shown with de instead.

Le livre de Marc means Marc's book — literally the book of Marc. The order reverses from English: the thing owned comes first, then de, then the owner.

With a definite article the contraction rules apply: la voiture du professeur means the teacher's car, contracting de and le. La maison des voisins means the neighbours' house. Writing anything resembling Marc's in French is always wrong, since the apostrophe-s construction simply does not exist in the language.

Revision notes

The structure

The thing owned, then de, then the owner.

Le livre de Marc — Marc's book. La sœur de Paul — Paul's sister. The order is the reverse of English, which is the main source of error.

With articles

The normal contraction rules apply.

La voiture du professeur — the teacher's car, contracting de and le. La maison des voisins — the neighbours' house, contracting de and les. La chambre de la fille keeps its two words.

No apostrophe-s

French has no equivalent of the English 's.

Writing Marc's livre or le livre Marc's is always wrong. Every possessive must be built with de, however awkward it feels compared with English.

Key points

  • French shows possession with de.
  • There is no apostrophe-s in French.
  • The thing owned comes first.
  • De comes next, then the owner.
  • Contraction rules apply with le and les.
  • The order reverses from English.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: Marc's book. [2 marks]

Working

le livre de Marcput the thing owned first, then de and the owner
The order is the reverse of English, which uses an apostrophe-sexplain the structure

Example 2

Translate: the teacher's car. [2 marks]

Working

la voiture du professeuruse de with the definite article
De and le contract to duapply the contraction rule

Example 3

Translate: the neighbours' house. [2 marks]

Working

la maison des voisinsuse de with the plural article
De and les contract to desapply the contraction rule

Common mistakes

  • Using an apostrophe-s.

    It does not exist in French.

  • Getting the order wrong.

    The thing owned comes first.

  • Forgetting the contraction.

    De le becomes du.

  • Omitting de entirely.

    Le livre Marc is not a possessive.

Exam tips

  • Put the thing owned before de.
  • Apply contractions with le and les.
  • Never use an apostrophe for possession.
  • Reverse the English order deliberately.

Key terms

Possession
Showing ownership, expressed with de.
De
The preposition linking owner and thing owned.
Contraction
De plus le becoming du.
Apostrophe-s
The English structure with no French equivalent.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.