How do you say our in French?

Notre before a singular noun and nos before a plural one: notre voiture, nos voitures. Gender is irrelevant, so notre père and notre mère are identical. The pronoun form, meaning ours, is le nôtre with a circumflex.

When do you use leur and when leurs?

Leur if they own one thing, leurs if they own several: leur appartement but leurs valises. Watch out for the identical-looking pronoun in je leur ai écrit, which means to them and never takes an -s.

Is votre plural or polite?

Both, and the form is the same either way. Votre passeport can be one traveller addressed formally or a family holding a single joint document, and only the situation tells you which.

Why don't these forms have a feminine version?

Because the plural possessives lost the distinction historically, in the same way that les serves both genders. Only the singular set — mon/ma, ton/ta, son/sa — kept a separate feminine, which makes the plural half of the table much shorter to learn.

What's the difference between notre and le nôtre?

Notre is a determiner and needs a noun after it: notre maison. Le nôtre is a pronoun that stands in for the whole phrase: la vôtre est plus grande que la nôtre. The circumflex also changes the pronunciation of the o.

French grammar · Beginner

Notre, Nos, Votre, Vos, Leur, Leurs: Our, Your, and Their in French

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

When more than one person owns something, French uses notre and nos for our, votre and vos for your, and leur and leurs for their. Unlike mon, ma, and mes, these forms ignore gender completely: the only question is whether one thing is owned or several.

Nos voisins ont vendu leur maison à leurs enfants.

Our neighbours sold their house to their children.

What it is

These six words cover every case where the owner is plural. They come in three pairs, one pair per owner, and within each pair the choice depends on a single question: is the thing owned singular or plural?

notre fils / nos fils, votre adresse / vos adresses, leur chien / leurs chiens — our son / our sons, your address / your addresses, their dog / their dogs.

How to spot it

Count the thing being owned, not the people owning it. Ten friends who share one flat still say notre appartement.

notre appartement — our flat (one flat, however many of us)
nos appartements — our flats (more than one flat)
votre décision — your decision (one decision)
leurs enfants — their children (more than one child)

There is no feminine form anywhere in this set. Notre père and notre mère are spelled exactly the same way.

Notre, Votre, and Leur Quick Reference

Three owners, two forms each

Owner	One thing owned	Several things owned	Example
nous — our	notre	nos	notre projet / nos projets
vous — your (a group)	votre	vos	votre équipe / vos équipes
vous — your (one person, politely)	votre	vos	Votre passeport, monsieur.
ils, elles — their	leur	leurs	leur idée / leurs idées
Gender of the noun	makes no difference	makes no difference	notre frère, notre sœur
Before a vowel	unchanged, with liaison	unchanged, with liaison	notre ami, nos amis

Common Notre, Votre, and Leur Examples in French

Each pair in ordinary sentences:

Notre and Nos

Notre train a du retard.: Our train is delayed.
Nos bagages sont déjà à l'hôtel.: Our luggage is already at the hotel.
C'est notre première visite.: It's our first visit.
Nous avons perdu nos billets.: We've lost our tickets.

Notre covers both genders, so notre chambre and notre couloir take the same word.

Votre and Vos

Votre commande est prête.: Your order is ready.
Merci pour vos conseils.: Thanks for your advice.
Quel est votre nom ?: What's your name?
Vos enfants sont adorables.: Your children are lovely.

The same forms serve a whole group and a single person you address as vous, which is why they dominate letters and customer service.

Leur and Leurs

Ils ont oublié leur parapluie.: They forgot their umbrella.
Leurs parents habitent en Bretagne.: Their parents live in Brittany.
Les élèves rangent leurs affaires.: The pupils are putting their things away.
Leur maison donne sur la mer.: Their house looks out onto the sea.

Leur as a possessive is a determiner and takes -s in the plural. Leur as an object pronoun never does.

Singular Owners, for Comparison

mon frère et notre frère: my brother and our brother
ta voiture et votre voiture: your car (one person, informal) and your car (polite or plural)
son chien et leur chien: his dog and their dog
ses idées et leurs idées: his ideas and their ideas

The singular set (mon, ma, mes) distinguishes gender; the plural set doesn't. That makes this half of the paradigm the simpler one.

How These Six Forms Are Chosen

One question decides the ending, and a second decides which pair you're in. Gender never enters into it.

Count the Thing, Not the People

Nos, vos, and leurs mark a plural object. The number of owners is already fixed by the choice of pair, so it plays no further part.

Nous avons rangé notre chambre et nos placards.

We tidied our bedroom and our cupboards.

Plural object → the -s form.

Votre Covers Politeness and Plurality at Once

Because French uses vous both for a group and for one person addressed formally, votre and vos do double duty. The verb form gives you no extra clue, so context is what tells you how many people are being addressed.

Madame, votre table est prête.

Madam, your table is ready.

vous → votre / vos, however many.

Leur the Possessive and Leur the Pronoun Are Different Words

Leur before a noun is a determiner and pluralises to leurs. Leur before a verb is an indirect object pronoun meaning to them, and it never takes an -s at all.

Je leur ai rendu leurs livres.

I gave them their books back.

Before a verb, no -s. Before a noun, agree.

Shared or One Each

When each member of a group has one of something, French usually keeps the noun singular if there's a single item per person and the sense is distributive. Both versions are used, and the singular emphasises that everyone has just one.

Les élèves ont levé la main.

The pupils put their hands up.

One each → singular noun.

Each Noun Needs Its Own Determiner

French can't share a possessive across a list. Even when the same form would be repeated, you have to write it out each time.

nos parents et nos grands-parents

our parents and grandparents

Repeat it before every noun.

Common Mistakes with Notre, Votre, and Leur

Incorrect: notres amis — our friends

Correct: nos amis — our friends

Notre has no plural in -s. The plural form is a separate word, nos, and the same goes for votre and vos.

Incorrect: Ils ont vendu leurs maison. — They sold their house.

Correct: Ils ont vendu leur maison. — They sold their house.

The -s reflects the thing owned, not the owners. There's one house, so leur stays singular however many people sold it.

Incorrect: Je leurs ai parlé. — I spoke to them.

Correct: Je leur ai parlé. — I spoke to them.

This leur is the indirect object pronoun meaning to them. It sits before the verb and never agrees with anything.

Incorrect: vos maison — your house

Correct: votre maison — your house

Vos requires a plural noun. One house takes votre, even when you're addressing a whole family.

Three Things Worth Getting Straight Early

The choice between tu and vous, the two leurs, and the accented pronoun forms all cause trouble in the first year.

Choosing between ton and votre

The possessive follows whatever pronoun you'd use for the person. If you'd say tu, use ton, ta, tes. If you'd say vous, use votre and vos, even for one person.

Tu as pris ton passeport ?: Have you got your passport? (a friend)
Avez-vous votre passeport ?: Do you have your passport? (a stranger)
Les enfants, prenez vos manteaux.: Children, get your coats.

Mixing the two inside one sentence is a giveaway: tu as oublié votre clé is the kind of slip that stands out immediately.

The two leurs

Test which one you have by looking at what comes next. A noun means it's the possessive and it agrees; a verb means it's the pronoun and it's invariable.

Leur voiture est en panne.: Their car has broken down.
Je leur ai téléphoné.: I phoned them.
Leurs amis leur ont écrit.: Their friends wrote to them.

The last example contains both in one sentence, which is the fastest way to see the difference.

Nôtre and vôtre with a circumflex

Add an article and a circumflex and you get the possessive pronoun, which stands in for a whole noun phrase. The accent changes the vowel sound as well as the spelling.

Votre voiture est plus rapide que la nôtre.: Your car is faster than ours.
Ce sont les vôtres ?: Are these yours?
Leur maison est grande, la leur aussi.: Their house is big, and so is theirs.

Le leur takes no circumflex, because leur has only one vowel sound to begin with.

Notre, Votre, and Leur FAQs

How do you say our in French?: Notre before a singular noun and nos before a plural one: notre voiture, nos voitures. Gender is irrelevant, so notre père and notre mère are identical. The pronoun form, meaning ours, is le nôtre with a circumflex.
When do you use leur and when leurs?: Leur if they own one thing, leurs if they own several: leur appartement but leurs valises. Watch out for the identical-looking pronoun in je leur ai écrit, which means to them and never takes an -s.
Is votre plural or polite?: Both, and the form is the same either way. Votre passeport can be one traveller addressed formally or a family holding a single joint document, and only the situation tells you which.
Why don't these forms have a feminine version?: Because the plural possessives lost the distinction historically, in the same way that les serves both genders. Only the singular set — mon/ma, ton/ta, son/sa — kept a separate feminine, which makes the plural half of the table much shorter to learn.
What's the difference between notre and le nôtre?: Notre is a determiner and needs a noun after it: notre maison. Le nôtre is a pronoun that stands in for the whole phrase: la vôtre est plus grande que la nôtre. The circumflex also changes the pronunciation of the o.