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Est-ce que ce grand sac noir est le vôtre ?

Est-ce que ce grand sac noir est le vôtre ?
Is this big black bag yours?
From Lesson 103:Possessive pronouns (le mien, le tien...)·French

Questions & Answers about Est-ce que ce grand sac noir est le vôtre ?

Why is it le vôtre with an accent on the "o", and not just votre?
votre without an accent is a possessive adjective, which must be followed by a noun (like votre sac, meaning "your bag"). le vôtre with the circumflex accent (^) is a possessive pronoun meaning "yours". It stands alone and replaces the noun completely so you don't have to repeat it.
Why do we use le before vôtre here?
Possessive pronouns in French must match the gender and number of the noun they are replacing. Since it replaces ce grand sac noir (this big black bag), and sac is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular pronoun le vôtre. If we were talking about a feminine noun like a suitcase (une valise), it would be la vôtre.
Why is grand before the noun sac, but noir is after it?
Most French adjectives come after the noun, including colors like noir. However, a small group of common adjectives related to Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size (often remembered by the acronym BANGS) go before the noun. Since grand describes size, it comes before sac.
Why do we use ce for "this" instead of cet or cette?
ce is the masculine singular word for "this" or "that" when the following word starts with a consonant. Even though the core noun is sac, the very next word is grand, which starts with a consonant. You would only use cet if the next word started with a vowel or a silent "h", and cette is only for feminine nouns.
Could I ask this question without using Est-ce que?
Yes! You could use a simpler, more conversational method by just stating the sentence with a rising tone of voice at the end: Ce grand sac noir est le vôtre ? You could also use the more formal inversion method, though it's less common in everyday speech: Ce grand sac noir est-il le vôtre ?

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