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

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.

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

Q&A Forum 6 questions, 11 answers

HelenA1Kwiziq community member

do collective nouns take plural possessive pronouns

Asked 4 months ago

Like0Answer1

CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Helen,

Normally a collective noun is treated as singular in grammatical terms so you will say -

La police arrive avec ses renforts .

L'équipe a partagé son expérience avec nous.

La famille a dû attendre trois heures avant d'embarquer.

Hope this helps!

Like04 months ago

Helen asked:View original

do collective nouns take plural possessive pronouns

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OkezieA1Kwiziq community member

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".

Asked 8 months ago

Like0Answer2

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

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.

Like08 months ago

CarlA2Kwiziq community member

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).

Like08 months ago

Okezie asked:View original

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".

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LizbetyA0Kwiziq community member

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

Asked 10 months ago

Like0Answer1

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

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

Like010 months ago

Lizbety asked:View original

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

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AnnieA1Kwiziq community member

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.

Asked 2 years ago

Like0Answer2

GruffKwiziq team member

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!

Like12 years ago

AnnieA1Kwiziq community member

Merci, ça devient plus clair pour moi maintenant.

Like02 years ago

Annie asked:View original

Definite articles for parts of the body

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Susan C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

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

Asked 3 years ago

Like0Answer4

AurélieKwiziq team member

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

Like13 years ago

Susan C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

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.

Like03 years ago

AurélieKwiziq team member

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 :)

Like13 years ago

Susan C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Will do. Merci.

Like03 years ago

Susan asked:View original