Grâce à sa bonne mémoire, Paul apprend vite.

Thanks to his good memory, Paul learns quickly.

Breakdown of Grâce à sa bonne mémoire, Paul apprend vite.

• Paul: Paul
• apprendre: to learn
• vite: quickly
• sa: his

Questions & Answers about Grâce à sa bonne mémoire, Paul apprend vite.

Why does sa mean his here? Shouldn’t it be son because Paul is male?

In French, the possessive adjective agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner.

Here, mémoire is a feminine noun, so French uses sa:

• sa mémoire = his memory / her memory

So even though Paul is male, sa is correct because mémoire is feminine.

For comparison:

• son livre = his/her book
• sa mémoire = his/her memory

French does not choose between his and her the way English does in this case. The context tells you whose memory it is.

Why is it bonne mémoire and not bien mémoire?

Because bonne is an adjective, while bien is usually an adverb.

Here, you are describing the noun mémoire, so you need an adjective:

• une bonne mémoire = a good memory

You would use bien to modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb, not a noun:

• Il apprend bien. = He learns well.

So:

• bonne mémoire = correct
• bien mémoire = incorrect