Breakdown of Il porte le sac sur son épaule.
sur
on
le sac
the bag
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
porter
to wear
l'épaule
the shoulder (f)
Questions & Answers about Il porte le sac sur son épaule.
Why does the sentence use son épaule if épaule is a feminine word?
Even though épaule is feminine, it starts with a vowel. In French, you cannot put the feminine possessive sa right next to a word starting with a vowel because the double vowel sound is clunky to say. To make the phrase flow smoothly, French swaps in the masculine son.
I learned that porter means to wear. Why does it mean to carry here?
Shouldn't French use l' instead of son for a body part?
You are remembering a great rule, but it does not apply here! French usually prefers definite articles like le, la, or l' for body parts during reflexive actions, like washing your hands or brushing your hair. But when you are just describing where an external object is resting, you use possessives like son exactly as you do in English.
How is son épaule pronounced? Do I connect the words?
Yes, this is a required liaison. Because son ends in a consonant and épaule starts with a vowel, you carry the n sound over to the start of the next word. When spoken aloud, the two words connect and sound like son-né-paule.
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