Notre compte d’épargne est important pour notre futur.

Our savings account is important for our future.

Breakdown of Notre compte d’épargne est important pour notre futur.

• être: to be
• pour: for
• important: important
• notre: our
• le futur: the future
• le compte d'épargne: the savings account

Questions & Answers about Notre compte d’épargne est important pour notre futur.

Why is it notre and not nos at the beginning?

Notre is used with a single noun (singular), while nos is used with plural nouns.

• Notre compte = our (one) account
• Nos comptes = our accounts

Since there is only one savings account being talked about, French uses notre compte, not nos compte.

What does compte d’épargne literally mean, and what is its gender?

• Compte is a masculine noun meaning roughly account.
• Épargne is a feminine noun meaning savings (the money you save).
• Compte d’épargne is a fixed expression that means savings account (a bank account used for saving money).

So the whole expression compte d’épargne is treated as masculine, because the main noun is compte:

• un compte d’épargne
• notre compte d’épargne

Why do we write d’épargne and not de épargne?

In French, de becomes d’ in front of a word that starts with a vowel or silent h.
Since épargne begins with a vowel sound é, de épargne contracts to d’épargne.

This is the same pattern as:

• un verre d’eau (from de eau)
• un kilo d’oranges (from de oranges)

Why is it est important and not c’est important?

In this sentence, Notre compte d’épargne is the clear grammatical subject, so French uses the normal verb être directly:

• Notre compte d’épargne est important…

C’est important is more general and uses the pronoun ce (this/that/it), usually when you are not naming a specific subject right away, for example:

• Épargner de l’argent, c’est important. = Saving money is important.

Here, since the subject Notre compte d’épargne is explicit, est important is the natural choice.

Is important agreeing with compte? Why not importante?

Yes, important agrees with the subject compte, which is masculine singular.
Agreement rules here are:

• Masculine singular: important
• Feminine singular: importante
• Masculine plural: importants
• Feminine plural: importantes

So you would say:

• Notre compte d’épargne est important.
• Notre épargne est importante. (because épargne is feminine)

Could I say C’est important pour notre futur instead?

Yes, C’est important pour notre futur is a correct French sentence, but its structure is different:

• Notre compte d’épargne est important… focuses clearly on the savings account as the subject.
• C’est important… is more general and could refer to the whole idea of saving money, not just one account.

Both are grammatically fine; the original sentence is a bit more specific and concrete.

Why is important after est and not before the noun like in English?

In this sentence, important is part of the verb phrase, not directly attached to the noun:

• Subject: Notre compte d’épargne
• Verb: est
• Adjective (predicate): important

French works like English here:

• English: Our savings account is important.
• French: Notre compte d’épargne est important.

When the adjective comes directly before/after the noun (un important projet, un projet important), that is a different structure. Here, we have noun + verb + adjective, so the adjective must follow est.

What is the difference between futur and avenir?

Both are masculine nouns and both correspond to future, but their usage is slightly different:

• avenir is more common when talking about someone’s life or prospects:

  • C’est important pour ton avenir. = It’s important for your future.

• futur is more abstract, or used in grammar (the future tense is le futur) or in a technical style.

In everyday speech, many native speakers would more naturally say:

• Notre compte d’épargne est important pour notre avenir.

Is pour notre futur the most natural expression, or could I say something else?

Pour notre futur is correct, but other options are slightly more idiomatic:

• pour notre avenir (very natural in everyday French)
• pour l’avenir (for the future, in general)

So you might often hear:

• Notre compte d’épargne est important pour notre avenir.
• Notre compte d’épargne est important pour l’avenir.

Do I have to repeat notre before futur? Could I say pour le futur instead?

You do not have to repeat notre; you can choose what you want to emphasize:

• pour notre futur / notre avenir = emphasizing our own future
• pour le futur / l’avenir = more general: the future as a period of time

All of these are grammatically correct; the nuance is just about how personal or general you want it to sound.

Why is the preposition pour used here? Could it be à or de?

Pour is used to indicate benefit, purpose, or effect:

• important pour notre futur = important for our future (beneficial to it).

Using à or de would sound wrong here:

• important à notre futur or important de notre futur are not idiomatic.

With adjectives like important, utile, bon, French almost always uses pour + what benefits:

• C’est bon pour la santé.
• C’est utile pour toi.

How do you pronounce compte d’épargne est important? Are there any silent letters or links?

Key points:

• compte: pronounced roughly kont
  
  • The m and p are not fully pronounced; they create a nasal vowel [kɔ̃t].
• d’épargne: day-par-nye
  
  • gn in épargne is a single sound [ɲ], like ny in canyon.
• est important: you normally make a liaison:
  
  • est important → [ɛ t‿ɛ̃pɔʁtɑ̃], so you hear a t linking est and important.

So spoken smoothly, the core of the sentence sounds like:
notʁ kɔ̃t depaʁɲ ɛ t‿ɛ̃pɔʁtɑ̃ puʁ notʁ fytyʁ.