sa sœur
The English phrase "his sister" is translated into French as sa sœur.
sa sœur is used to refer to the female sibling of a male person.
Which one should you use?
In French, the phrase sa sœur is used for both "his sister" and "her sister" because the possessive adjective agrees with the feminine noun sœur.
How does it change in a sentence?
The possessive adjective sa agrees with the gender of the object possessed (the sister), not the gender of the possessor (the brother).
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use son instead of sa because they want to match the gender of the male owner, but in French, the possessive must match the feminine noun sœur.
Did you know?
- The term sœur can be used metaphorically in the phrase sœur de lait, which refers to 'milk sisters' who were nursed by the same woman.
- The French word for 'sister', sœur, is derived from the Latin 'soror', which is the root for the English word 'sorority'.
- In French, the word sœur is also used to describe a nun, often as une sœur.
Examples in context
- Sa sœur est venue.His sister came.This sentence is useful for describing the arrival of sa sœur.Tatoeba #11682171 by Amastan, translation #8614267 by Amastan
- Quel âge a sa sœur?How old is his sister?This sentence is useful for asking the age of sa sœur.Tatoeba #3888701 by Scorpionvenin14, translation #3888658 by Verdastelo
- Il a appelé sa sœur.He called his sister.This sentence is useful for stating that someone called sa sœur.Tatoeba #11759355 by Aiji, translation #7104561 by shekitten
- Jean a invité sa sœur à la soirée.Jean invited his sister to the party.
- Pierre est très fier de sa sœur.Pierre is very proud of his sister.
- Il adore sa sœur, elle est adorable.He loves his sister, she is adorable.
- J'ai rencontré sa sœur hier au café.I met his sister at the café yesterday.
- 56 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Hugo are talking about Hugo's friend's family.
- ChloéOù est sa sœur ?Where is his sister?
- HugoSa sœur est au travail.His sister is at work.
- ChloéElle arrive quand ?When is she arriving?
- HugoElle arrive dans dix minutes.She is arriving in ten minutes.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries sa, sœur, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
