Kilo Lingo

/sa/

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Translation

his, her, its (feminine singular)

Word origin

Feminine possessive adjective, from Latin sua, the feminine of suus ('his, her, its, one's own').

Origin
Latin
Root
sua (suus)

Examples

.

He lost his watch somewhere in the park.

.

She really likes her new school and her classmates.

.

The cat is sleeping on its favourite blanket near the window.

vendu .

My friend sold his house to go and live in the countryside.

, l' .

Marie is looking for her car, she can't remember where she parked it.

is the feminine singular third-person possessive adjective in French, covering "his", "her" and "its" in one form: sa voiture can be his car, her car or the car of an organisation. Unlike English, French possessives agree with the thing possessed, not the possessor; the gender of the owner is invisible in sa. Context, not grammar, tells you whose car it is.

Like ma and ta, sa swaps to the masculine form son before a vowel or mute h, even when the noun is feminine: son amie (his/her friend), son histoire (his/her story). This is purely phonetic, to avoid the hiatus of sa amie. The plural counterpart for any gender is ses. See the French possessives guide for how the full nine-cell table (three persons by three forms) lines up.

Where this fits

Used in

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French · Free printables

sa: worksheet, infographic and listicle

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

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This word is part of lesson 2.