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Translation

my (feminine singular)

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Word origin

The feminine singular possessive 'my', from Latin mea, the feminine of meus ('my, mine'). The same root gave English my and mine through a different Germanic line.

Origin
Latin
Root
mea

Examples

.

My mother prepares dinner every evening at around seven.

Lyon.

My sister studies law at the university of Lyon.

.

I left my key inside the house.

, .

Here is my car, it is parked just in front.

, .

My room looks out on the garden, it is very quiet.

Ma is the feminine singular form of the first-person possessive adjective in French, meaning "my" when the thing possessed is grammatically feminine: ma mère (my mother), ma maison (my house). Like all French possessives, it agrees with the noun being possessed, not with the speaker, so a male or female speaker uses the same ma.

The catch is that ma is replaced by the masculine form mon when the next word starts with a vowel or mute h, even if the noun is feminine: mon amie (my friend, feminine), mon histoire (my story). French does this to avoid the awkward vowel collision of ma amie. The pattern repeats across the possessive set: ta becomes ton, sa becomes son, all for the same phonetic reason. See the French possessives guide for the full table.

Where this fits

Used in

Grammar articles

(21)

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French · Free printables

ma: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the French word "ma" (my (feminine singular)): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

This word is taught in chapter 2, lesson 7: ma, sur, quoi and 11 more words.