Is "son" and "sa" the same thing?

is “son” and “sa” the same thing?

A child has two parents: son père et sa mère.

You got it: ‘son’ is the possessive pronoun for a masculine word and ‘sa’ has the same function for a feminine word. Both are in the singular.

EDIT

From this you can see that in French the possessive pronouns are governed by the object’s gender.
The boy sees his father (father = masculine object, ie ‘son’). The boy sees his mother (feminine object, ie ‘sa’).
The girl sees her father (masculine object, ie ‘son’). The girl sees her mother (feminine object, ie ‘sa’)

N.B. In front of a vowel the feminine ‘sa’ also becomes ‘son’:
The boy sees his (female) friend: … son amie.
The girls sees her (female) friend: … son amie.
The girls sees her (male) friend: … son ami.
The boys sees his (male) friend: … son ami.

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SanneT has given you a very detailed response. I would just add to the mix that “ses” could also be added (which refers to the same thing but plural). Example,… ses amis (masculine or mixed group); ses amies (feminine).

M

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Thanks very much!!! They are of great use!!