ma personne préférée
In French, "my favorite person" is ma personne préférée.
The phrase is used to describe someone you love or like more than anyone else. You can also use the endearing term mon trésor, which literally means "my treasure".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is built from ma (my), personne (person) and préférée (preferred/favorite).
Which one should you use?
While ma personne préférée is a complete noun phrase, in very casual speech, you might see the shorthand mon préféré (masculine) or ma préférée (feminine), though these typically imply a noun that was previously mentioned.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because personne is a feminine noun in French, the possessive adjective ma and the adjective préférée must both be in the feminine form, even if the person being described is male.
Did you know?
- In French, the word personne is a grammatical paradox because it means 'person' in the singular but is used as the word for 'nobody' when preceded by ne.
- The word personne comes from the Latin persona, which originally referred to a theatrical mask worn by actors in ancient plays.
- While ma personne préférée is common now, French speakers historically avoided using personne to describe an individual in this way, preferring specific roles like mon ami or mon amour.
Examples in context
- Tu es ma personne préférée.You are my favorite person.
- Elle reste ma personne préférée au monde.She remains my favorite person in the world.
Example conversation
Léa and Gabriel are having a sweet moment at a café.
- LéaGabriel, tu sais que tu es ma personne préférée ?Gabriel, do you know that you are my favorite person?
- GabrielC'est vraiment très gentil, Léa.That is really very kind, Léa.
- LéaJe le pense sincèrement.I sincerely mean it.
- GabrielEt toi, tu es la mienne.And you, you are mine.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ma, personne, CC BY-SA 4.0.
