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Adjectifs possessifs pour propriétaires pluriels
Grammatically speaking, French has three plural possessors because it has three* plural grammatical persons:
| 1st person | nous | we | |
| 2nd person | vous | you | |
| 3rd person | ils elles | they |
In French, each of the three* grammatical possessors has two different possessive adjectives, depending on whether the possession is singular or plural. Therefore, there are a total of 6 French possessive adjectives for the three plural possessors:
| Singular possession | Plural possession | ||
| our | notre | nos | |
| your (vous form) | votre | vos | |
| their | leur | leurs |
Par exemple…
| Nous sommes avec notre frère. | We’re with our brother. |
| Nous écoutons notre musique. | We’re listening to our music. |
| J’ai perdu nos clés. | I lost our keys. |
The gender of the possession makes no difference with plural possessors; the only thing that matters is whether the possession is singular or plural.
* Though French has two different third person plural subjects, they are grammatically considered to be the same third person possessor, so both third person plural subjects use the same possessive adjectives. There is no distinction between "their" for ils and elles.
Par exemple…
| Ils cherchent leur voiture. | They’re looking for their car. |
| Elles adorent leurs cours. | They love their classes. |
(Why leur voiture but leurs cours? See Plural possessions for more detail.)
If you want to make a distinction, you can use the preposition à plus a stressed pronoun:
- à eux – "belonging to the male or mixed group"
- à elles – "belonging to the female group"
Par exemple…
| son frère à eux | their brother | |
| son frère à elles | their brother |
More French possessive adjectives
- Introduction
- Singular possessors | Plural possessors
- Singular possessions | Plural possessions
Possessive Adjective Quizzes
Quizzes on possessive adjectives vs possessive pronouns
Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!
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