Latest / Learn French with Fexingo / French Possessives – Notre, Vos, Leurs
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn French with Fexingo. I'm Lucas, and with me is the wonderful Luna. Luna: Hey everyone! Ready for another tiny French lesson? I sure am. Lucas: So last time we tackled son, sa, ses — possessive adjectives for one person. Today we're going plural. Luna: Oh, I remember that. Son for his or her, sa for feminine things, ses for plural. Okay, bring on the plural version. Lucas: And you know, speaking of helping people learn — if Fexingo has been helping you make real progress with French, we just want to say that we keep this show completely ad-free by design. If you'd like to support that choice, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a tiny way to keep things clean and focused on the language. No ads interrupting our flow. Lucas: Exactly. So today's target: the words notre, vos, and leurs. They mean 'our', 'your', and 'their'. Luna: Notre, vos, leurs. Okay, say them slowly? Lucas: Sure. Notre... notre. Vos... vos. Leurs... leurs. Luna: Notre. Vos. Leurs. Got it. But how do they work with nouns? I remember with mon, ma, mes, the gender mattered. Lucas: Great question. With notre, vos, and leurs, there's no gender change — they're the same for masculine and feminine. But they do change for singular vs plural nouns. Let's start with notre. Luna: So notre is always 'our' no matter if the noun is masculine or feminine? Lucas: Exactly. For example: 'C'est notre professeur.' That means 'This is our teacher.' Professeur is masculine, but it works the same for a female teacher too. Luna: C'est notre professeur. Our teacher. Okay, what about 'our house'? That would be 'notre maison', right? Lucas: Perfect. 'C'est notre maison.' And if you have multiple houses, you'd say 'nos maisons' — but we'll cover nos another time. Today we focus on notre, vos, leurs. Luna: Got it. So notre is singular. Now vos — that's 'your' for several people or formal you? Lucas: Right. 'Ce sont vos livres.' These are your books. Vos works for masculine or feminine plural nouns. Luna: Ce sont vos livres. So if I'm talking to a group of friends, I'd say 'vos livres'. What about just one book? Would it be 'votre livre'? Lucas: Exactly. Votre for singular, vos for plural. But today we're focusing on the plural form vos. And then leurs — 'their' for plural owners. Luna: Leurs. So 'their house' — 'leur maison'? Lucas: Yes! 'Voici leur maison.' Here is their house. And if they have multiple houses, 'leurs maisons'. But like vos, leurs works for any gender. Luna: Voici leur maison. So leur is singular, leurs is plural. But we're just practicing leurs today? Lucas: That's right. Let's do a mini scene. Imagine we're at a school. You say to me: 'C'est notre professeur.' I respond: 'Oui, et voici vos livres.' Then you say: 'Et voici leur maison?' Luna: Okay, let me try. C'est notre professeur. That's our teacher. Lucas: Yes! Then I say: Oui, et voici vos livres. Yes, and here are your books. Luna: Et voici leur maison? And here is their house? But wait, why a house at school? Lucas: Maybe the teacher lives next door. Anyway, you got it right. Let's do one more round. Repeat after me: notre. Luna: Notre. Lucas: Vos. Luna: Vos. Lucas: Leurs. Luna: Leurs. Lucas: Now full phrases: C'est notre professeur. Luna: C'est notre professeur. Lucas: Ce sont vos livres. Luna: Ce sont vos livres. Lucas: Voici leur maison. Luna: Voici leur maison. Lucas: Excellent. Now let's test with a little story. Luna, imagine you and I are planning a party. We have a friend named Marie. You say: 'C'est notre fête.' Luna: C'est notre fête. Our party. Lucas: Then I say: 'Oui, et voici vos invitations.' Your invitations. Luna: Oui, et voici vos invitations. And then I say: 'Et voici leur gâteau?' Their cake? Lucas: Perfect! 'Voici leur gâteau.' You've got it. See how natural it feels? Luna: Yeah, it's clicking. So notre for our, vos for your, leurs for their. All before a plural noun, right? Lucas: Actually, notre, votre, leur are used before singular nouns. Vos and leurs are before plural nouns. But the key is no gender worry. Luna: Right, right. So notre professeur, vos livres, leur maison. I think I've got it. Lucas: Let's do a quick recap. We've covered trois mots: notre, vos, leurs. Three phrases: C'est notre professeur. Ce sont vos livres. Voici leur maison. Luna: And I even made up my own: C'est notre fête. That felt good. Lucas: That's the goal — to make the language yours. Practice these phrases when you're with friends or family. Try saying 'notre maison' or 'vos clés'. Luna: Or 'leur chien' for their dog. I'm going to try that one. Lucas: Great idea. Okay, that wraps up episode 106. Keep practicing, and we'll see you next time for more French with Fexingo. Luna: Bye for now!