Possessive Adjectives: Plural Possessors

Adjectifs possessifs pour propriétaires pluriels

Ma musique, notre café - French possessive adjectives
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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

 Possessive Adjective Quizzes

Quizzes on possessive adjectives vs possessive pronouns

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 Related lessons

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Mon, ma, mes, notre, nos French possessive adjectives

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