Nan in Mass Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 In English, "we" is always "we", and "one" is used formally in a general situation and "you" is used informally in a general situation. In French, it seems like "on" is used in family situations for "nous"? Is that correct? But the literal translation of "on" in English is "one"? I find myself saying "on va" when I am telling my children what we are going to do next rather than "nous allons" and I'm suddenly wondering why I do that, where I got it from, and if it is correct. -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 "on" has four uses. Let's see if I can remember them ;-) 1. on - familiar 'nous'. 2. on - unknown person. "On a tué le chat!" This one NEVER includes the person who's speaking, unless he's a liar. 3. on - generic person. "Après le repas, on se sent bien". That would be the English 'one' as in "one feels great after eating". 4. argh, I knew I wouldn't remember them all. When I studied this in high school, I got all mixed up. #4 never made sense to me... It's a variation of #3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 (edited) So it sounds like I'm probably not too far off. Thank you! Edited March 24, 2009 by Nan in Mass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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