Our can be singular?

Question

There is a plural and singular form of our here; "Notre" and "Nos". How is there a singular our if our is already plural?

Maarten Kamp · Answer

Maple,

This can be a difficult point initially for English speakers, as the grammatical rule is quite different.

In French, possessive adjectives take agreement in gender and number with the ‘ possession ‘, not with the ‘ owner ‘.

As per the lessons :

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

“ IMPORTANT: It's tempting to try to 'agree' these with the gender of the owner but only the first letter is determined by the owner (m = my; t = your, s = his/her) etc. The rest of the adjective is related to the gender and number of the thing they own. “

Notre/nos/votre/vos/leur/leurs = our/your/their (French Possessive Adjectives)

“ 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. “