Possessive Adjectives: Plural Possessors

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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	leurs		leur

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

• L’anniversaire de Thomas
• Dans les vestiaires
• Ma (belle) famille
• Où sont mes chaussures ?

Quizzes on possessive adjectives vs possessive pronouns

• Les enfants au resto
• Nos voisins et nous

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!

 Related lessons

• Introduction to adjectives
• Ton vs votre
• More French possession
• PwLF super list of possession lessons
   

 En español

• Adjetivos posesivos
   

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