de preceding the possessive adjective

Question

Même si ce n'était pas de sa faute.Hi, Can you please explain, is "de" necessary before "sa" in this sentence? Thanks, Paul.

Accepted Answer

Hi Paul,
Well spotted!
In fact you can say both "C'est ma faute" or "C'est de ma faute".
The first one is considered more correct but you will hear both in French .
It is an idiomatic 'de' so hard to justify...
C'est ma faute, c'est ma faute, c'est ma très grande faute = Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa
Hope this helps!

Answer

Thanks Cécile, that's very helpful. I'm encouraged by my experience that "de ma faute" didn't sound quite right. Maybe I'm starting to develop an ear for French! Paul.