if it start with y is it will be mon or ma
lolo shady 1256
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lolo shady 1256
Bonjour Ganatalla,
This is a really interesting question! Maarten's explanation is good although there's a tiny bit more to it.
Thanks to you both, we've now updated the lesson to include a clear explanation as to which possessive pronoun (mon/ton/etc. or ma/ta/etc.) to use when "y" is at the beginning of a word.
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !
Ganatalla
where did this question come from ?
It is relevant only to a tiny, single-digit number of French feminine singular nouns, that might be used with a possessive adjective " ma, ta, sa " or " mon, ton, son " depending on whether the y is a vowel or semi-vowel !
Did you have any specific cases in mind ?
In short if the y is a ‘vowel’, it acts as a vowel grammatically ( eg with elisions, changing to "mon, ton, son" etc ), but if the y is a ‘semi vowel’ it will act as a consonant grammatically. This is based on usage and information in wordreference and other dictionaries.
See the description and links in the text by Laura Lawless for the definition of vowel or semi vowel used.
You can search dictionaries for representative nouns - not only is the number of them small, but those that exist are almost all quite uncommon or technical in usage.
https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/yp%C3%A9rite/83009
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/pronunciation/y/
https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A8Y0006
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/yaourti%C3%A8re
https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A8Y0009
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