Notre, nos, votre, vos, leur, leurs = our, your, their (possessive adjectives)

In: Level A1, Adjectives & Adverbs, Adjectif possessif
Questions: 15

Look at these examples:

Ils aiment leurs parents.
They love their parents.

Nous promenons notre chien.
We walk our dog.

Vous faites vos devoirs.
You do your homework.

Pouvez-vous apporter vos chaussures, s'il-vous-plaît?
Can you bring your shoes please?

Vous avez passé votre examen.
You took your exam.

Nous avons nos passeports.
We have our passports.

Notice that to express our, your and their, you use the possessive adjectives notre/nos, votre/vos, leur/leurs, as following:

 

  Singular Plural
our notre
 nos
your (vous) votre
 vos
their leur
 leurs

Note the similarity of the forms.


IMPORTANT: The first letter is determined by the owner (n =our; v =your, l =their) etc. but the rest of the adjective is related to the number of the thing that is possessed.

More Possessive Adjectives

Mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses = my; your; his / her (possessive adjectives)

and also the more advanced

Common mistakes with mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes and son/sa/ses (possessive adjectives)

Using "mon" rather than "ma" with feminine nouns starting with a vowel or mute h (possessive adjectives)

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Adjectif possessif

Examples and resources

Pouvez-vous apporter vos chaussures, s'il-vous-plaît?
Can you bring your shoes please?

Vous faites vos devoirs.
You do your homework.

Vive le vent, vive le vent,
Vive le vent d'hiver,
Qui rapporte aux vieux enfants,
Leurs souvenirs d'hier, oh !
Long live the wind, long live the wind,
Long live the winter wind,
Which brings to old kids,
Their memories of yesterday, oh!

Nous avons nos passeports.
We have our passports.

Ils aiment leurs parents.
They love their parents.

Vous avez passé votre examen.
You took your exam.

Nous promenons notre chien.
We walk our dog.

Q&A

Okezie

Kwiziq community member

23 January 2019

2 replies

Vous avez passé votre examen

"Vous avez passé votre examen" according to google translate (and my intiution) means Vous avez passé votre examen.

But here it says: "You took your exam".

Chris

Kwiziq community member

23 January 2019

23/01/19

Yes. Strictly speaking,

Vous avez passé votre examen means you took  the exam, and

Vous avez eu votre examen is you passed it.

In practice, and according to two native speakers I am in touch with, that distinction is lost in practice.

Carl

Kwiziq community member

28 January 2019

28/01/19

I am certain from several French teachers that "passer" is used to mean taking a test.  I am told to pass a test in the English sense of pass is "reussir," to succeed.  So the French equivalent of "You passed your test" is "Tu as reussi ton examen."  (I can't type the accents on the e in reussir). 

Lizbety

Kwiziq community member

28 November 2018

1 reply

which possessive adjectives is suitable for singulier,plurier,femininmet masculin

Chris

Kwiziq community member

29 November 2018

29/11/18

Here is the lesson for singular possessive pronouns: Mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses = my; your; his / her (possessive adjectives)

Annie

Kwiziq community member

29 April 2017

2 replies

Definite articles for parts of the body

Having read the lesson about using the definite article when referring to parts of the body, why does the idiom for "taking to one's heels" translate as "nous avons pris nos jambes à notre cou"? as in the practice lesson "la main dans le sac" posted on Facebook recently.

Gruff

Kwiziq language super star

29 April 2017

29/04/17

Hi Annie - when referring to a person's own body parts in French, you would usually use the definite article but there are some exceptions: Using mon, ma, mes, etc with parts of the body (possessive adjectives)">Using mon, ma, mes, etc with parts of the body (possessive adjectives)">Using mon, ma, mes, etc with parts of the body (possessive adjectives)">Using mon, ma, mes, etc with parts of the body (possessive adjectives)

Hope that helps!

Annie

Kwiziq community member

29 April 2017

29/04/17

Merci, ça devient plus clair pour moi maintenant.

Susan

Kwiziq community member

13 September 2016

4 replies

Is there a liaison, pronouncing, "ils aiment leurs parents?"

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

14 September 2016

14/09/16

Bonjour Susan ! Yes, there is one liaison between "ils" and "aiment", as such: [illzM] :) I hope that's helpful!

Susan

Kwiziq community member

14 September 2016

14/09/16

It is - and it leads to another question: are there rules or conventions? I notice differences sometimes between Kwiziq voice files and those on the videos.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

15 September 2016

15/09/16

Yes, we're trying really hard for our audio files pronunciation to be accurate, but sometimes it's not so. Please let me know whenever you encounter an audio file which seems to miss liaisons etc, as we're aiming to make them as accurate as possible :)

Susan

Kwiziq community member

15 September 2016

15/09/16

Will do. Merci.

Sue

Kwiziq community member

24 July 2016

1 reply

So one says

Elle aime ses parents. Ils aiment leurs parents Ils aiment leur père.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

25 July 2016

25/07/16

Exactement Sue ! Bravo, c'est parfait !

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