🇫🇷 French A1: La Famille (Family)
Talking About Your Family - Trilingual (French/English/عربي)
👨👩👧👦 La Famille — Talking About Your Family
In this lesson you will learn the words for family members, how to say "my/your/his/her" with possessive adjectives, and the verb avoir (to have) — the second most important verb in French after être.
📖 Grammar Focus: The verb avoir (to have)
Avoir is used to talk about family ("I have a brother"), age ("I am 20 years old" = "I have 20 years"), and possession. It is irregular and must be memorized.
| French | Pronunciation | English | العربية |
|---|---|---|---|
| J'ai | zhay | I have | لدي / عندي |
| Tu as | too ah | You have (informal) | لديك (عامية) |
| Il / Elle a | eel / ell ah | He / She has | لديه / لديها |
| Nous avons | noo zah-VOHN | We have | لدينا |
| Vous avez | voo zah-VAY | You have (formal/plural) | لديكم |
| Ils / Elles ont | eel / ell zohn | They have | لديهم |
Example: J'ai deux frères. (I have two brothers. / لدي أخوان.)
📖 Grammar Focus: Possessive Adjectives (my, your, his/her)
French possessives agree with the gender of the noun that follows them — NOT with the gender of the owner. This is different from English and Arabic.
| Owner | + Masculine noun | + Feminine noun | + Plural noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | mon (mon père) | ma (ma mère) | mes (mes parents) |
| your (tu) | ton (ton frère) | ta (ta sœur) | tes (tes enfants) |
| his/her | son (son fils) | sa (sa fille) | ses (ses enfants) |
Important: "sa mère" can mean "his mother" OR "her mother" — French possessives don't show the owner's gender, only the noun's gender.
💬 Sample Dialogue
🎯 Flashcards
Click each card to flip it and reveal the English and Arabic translation. Click again to flip back.
❓ Quick Quiz
Answer one question at a time. You'll see right away if you got it right, then move to the next.
📝 Practice Exams — 5 Exams, 50 Questions Total
Each exam has 10 questions, answered one at a time with instant feedback. Exam 5 is a comprehensive mixed review. Choose an exam below to begin.
💡 Tips & Cultural Notes
Expert teacher notes to help you sound more natural and avoid common beginner mistakes.
⚠️ Common Mistake: Possessives don't follow the owner
Arabic and English speakers often want to make "his" or "her" agree with the person. In French, son, sa, ses agree with the NOUN, not the owner. "Sa mère" simply means "his/her mother" — the gender comes from "mère" being feminine, not from who owns it.
⚠️ Common Mistake: avoir vs être for age
In English you "are" a certain age. In French you "have" a certain age: J'ai vingt ans (literally "I have twenty years"). Never say "Je suis vingt ans" — that's a very common beginner error.
🇫🇷 Gendered nouns: every noun has a gender
In French, every noun is either masculine (le) or feminine (la), even for objects with no natural gender. Family words are usually logical (le père = masc., la mère = fem.), but elsewhere gender must simply be memorized along with each word.
🗣️ Liaison tip: "les enfants"
The "s" of "les" links to the vowel that follows: "les enfants" is pronounced "lay-zahn-fahn," flowing together, not "lay enfants" with a pause. This linking (liaison) happens constantly in fast, natural French.
📌 "sœur" and the œ letter
The "œ" in "sœur" is a single combined letter (called "o-e collé") pronounced like "uh" — similar to the vowel sound in the English word "her." You'll see it again in words like "cœur" (heart) and "œuf" (egg).