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Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur, mais sa cousine préfère devenir avocate.

Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur, mais sa cousine préfère devenir avocate.
My cousin wants to become an engineer, but his cousin prefers to become a lawyer.
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Questions & Answers about Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur, mais sa cousine préfère devenir avocate.

Why is it mon cousin but sa cousine? Why not use ma cousine to keep it consistent?

French possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes, son, sa, ses, etc.) agree with the thing owned, not with the owner.

  • mon cousin = my male cousin
    • mon is used because cousin is masculine singular.
  • sa cousine = his/her female cousin
    • sa is used because cousine is feminine singular.

So in this sentence:

  • mon cousin = my cousin (a man)
  • sa cousine = his (or her) cousin (a woman)

The second cousin is not "my" cousin, but the cousin of that first cousin. That’s why it changes from mon to sa.

Important: sa can mean his or her; French doesn’t show the owner’s gender, only the object’s gender. Here, context would tell you whether sa cousine is his cousin or her cousin.

How do I know when to use cousin and when to use cousine?

It’s purely about the gender of the cousin:

  • cousin – male cousin
  • cousine – female cousin

The same pattern is common with many nouns referring to people:

  • ami / amie (male / female friend)
  • voisin / voisine (male / female neighbour)

Spelling and pronunciation both change slightly:

  • cousin ends in a nasal sound (the -in is not pronounced like an English n).
  • cousine clearly has the -n sound at the end.
Why is there no article before ingénieur and avocate? In English we say “an engineer”, “a lawyer”.

With professions in French, you normally do not use an article after être or devenir:

  • Il est ingénieur. – He is an engineer.
  • Elle veut devenir avocate. – She wants to become a lawyer.

So you say:

  • devenir ingénieur
  • devenir avocate

You add an article only when you qualify the profession with an adjective or extra description:

  • Il est un excellent ingénieur. – He is an excellent engineer.
  • Elle est une avocate très compétente. – She is a very competent lawyer.
Why is it ingénieur but avocate? Why does one have a feminine form and the other doesn’t?

Both can actually have feminine forms; it’s just that ingénieur is often used as a common (generic) form.

  • ingénieur:
    • Traditionally: un ingénieur for a man, une ingénieur (same spelling) for a woman.
    • You may also see une ingénieure in modern usage to mark the feminine more clearly.
  • avocat / avocate:
    • un avocat – a male lawyer
    • une avocate – a female lawyer

In your sentence:

  • ingénieur is used in the masculine for mon cousin (a man).
  • avocate clearly marks a feminine profession for sa cousine (a woman).

So: some job titles have a clear feminine form (avocate), others are often used identically for both genders (ingénieur), though feminine forms are becoming more common.

Why is it veut devenir and préfère devenir? Can I say veut être or préfère être instead?

Both devenir (to become) and être (to be) can work, but the nuance is slightly different:

  • veut devenir ingénieur – wants to become an engineer (focus on changing status in the future)
  • veut être ingénieur – wants to be an engineer (more about the desired state, less about the process)

Similarly:

  • préfère devenir avocate – prefers to become a lawyer (choice of future career path)
  • préfère être avocate – prefers being a lawyer (choice of role/identity)

In career-choice sentences like this, devenir is very natural because it underlines the idea of future change.

How is veut formed, and why isn’t it something like vouit or voult?

Veut is the 3rd person singular form of the verb vouloir (to want):

  • je veux – I want
  • tu veux – you want (informal)
  • il / elle / on veut – he / she / one wants
  • nous voulons – we want
  • vous voulez – you want
  • ils / elles veulent – they want

So mon cousin veut = my cousin wants.

The spelling is irregular, but you simply need to memorize veut as the form for il/elle/on.

Why is it mais here? Could I also use pourtant or cependant?

Mais is the basic conjunction for but and is the most natural here:

  • …, mais sa cousine préfère… – … but his/her cousin prefers…

You could use words like pourtant or cependant, but they are adverbs meaning however, nevertheless, and they sound more formal or written. They usually start a new clause or sentence:

  • Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur. Pourtant, sa cousine préfère devenir avocate.

In the middle of a single sentence, mais is the standard, neutral choice.

Why is it sa cousine and not son cousine? I thought son goes with masculine nouns?

Son / sa / ses agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify, not the owner:

  • son cousin – his/her male cousin
  • sa cousine – his/her female cousin
  • ses cousins / cousines – his/her cousins (plural)

So:

  • cousin is masculine → son cousin
  • cousine is feminine → sa cousine

We would use son with a feminine noun only when the noun starts with a vowel or silent h (for pronunciation reasons):
son amie, son histoire, etc. But cousine starts with a consonant, so sa cousine is correct.

Does sa cousine refer to the same person as mon cousin, or to someone else?

Mon cousin is clearly my male cousin.

Sa cousine grammatically means his or her cousin, and in this sentence it’s understood as the cousin of that cousin—so a different person.

A natural interpretation is:

  • My male cousin wants to become an engineer,
  • but his (female) cousin prefers to become a lawyer.

Technically sa cousine could also refer to some other person’s cousin, but in the absence of extra context, the most logical reference is to the person just mentioned (mon cousin).

Can I change the word order, like Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur, mais préfère sa cousine devenir avocate?

No, that second structure is not correct in French.

Each verb (veut, préfère) needs its subject expressed (unless it’s clearly understood and omitted in an imperative or very informal context). In standard French:

  • Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur, mais sa cousine préfère devenir avocate.

You can shorten the second part only in very informal spoken French, repeating less information:

  • Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur, mais sa cousine préfère être avocate.
  • Mon cousin veut devenir ingénieur, mais elle préfère devenir avocate.

But …mais préfère sa cousine… is ungrammatical as a direct copy of English patterns.

Is there a difference in meaning between préférer and aimer mieux in a sentence like this?

Préférer and aimer mieux both express preference, and both can work here:

  • sa cousine préfère devenir avocate
  • sa cousine aime mieux devenir avocate

Differences:

  • préférer is slightly more neutral and standard; it’s what you’ll see most often in writing.
  • aimer mieux is common in spoken French and can sound a bit more casual.

In this sentence, préférer is the most typical choice, especially in written or textbook French.

How are the main words in this sentence pronounced?

Approximate guides (not exact English sounds, but close):

  • Mon – /mɔ̃/ – nasal on; roughly like “mong” without the g.
  • cousin – /kuzɛ̃/ – cou like “koo”, then zin with a nasal vowel (no clear n).
  • cousine – /kuzin/ – cou like “koo”, then “zeen” with a clear n.
  • veut – /vø/ – like ve in “ver” but with rounded lips; no pronounced final t.
  • devenir – /dəv(ə)niʀ/ – de like the de in “de-construct”, venir like “vuh-neer”.
  • ingénieur – /ɛ̃ʒenjœʀ/ – nasal in, gé like “zhay”, neur like “nerr” with lips rounded.
  • mais – /mɛ/ – like “meh”.
  • sa – /sa/ – like “sah”.
  • avocate – /avɔkat/ – a-vo-kat, you do pronounce the final t here.

Spelling and pronunciation do not always match in French, so it’s worth listening to audio examples of the full sentence.