Log inSign up

Mon cousin cherche son chien.

Mon cousin cherche son chien.
My cousin is looking for his dog.
From Lesson 24:Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)·French

Questions & Answers about Mon cousin cherche son chien.

Why is it son chien? If the cousin was a woman, would it be sa chien?
No, it would still be son chien! In English, we use "his" or "her" based on who owns the dog. In French, possessive words like son (his/her) and sa (his/her) must match the gender of the thing being owned. Because chien is a masculine word, you must use son, regardless of whether the owner is a man or a woman.
I am a woman. Should I change it to ma cousin?
No, your own gender doesn't change the word for "my". The rule from the previous question applies here too: the possessive word matches the noun it sits next to. Since you are talking about a male cousin (cousin), you use the masculine mon. If you were talking about a female cousin, the noun changes to cousine, so you would say ma cousine.
Where is the word for "for" in this sentence? Why isn't it cherche pour son chien?
The French verb chercher translates directly to "to look for" or "to seek". The "for" is already built into the verb! You never need to add pour (for) after it. You just use chercher followed immediately by the thing you are trying to find.
Why does the verb cherche end in "-e" here?
Chercher is a regular "-er" verb. To choose the right ending, you can temporarily replace the subject (mon cousin) with a pronoun in your head. "My cousin" is a "he" (il). For regular "-er" verbs, the il/elle/on form always drops the "-er" and ends in just -e.

Learn Mon cousin cherche son chien and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →