11d • 🗣️ French language
Why did no-one mention 'on' at school?
If you learned French at school, you were probably taught:
nous allons, nous faisons, nous habitons…
Then you arrive in France and realise almost no one actually talks like that.
In everyday spoken French, people very often use 'on' instead of 'nous' to mean we.
For example:
- On va au marché ? → Shall we go to the market?
- On habite ici depuis deux ans. → We’ve lived here for two years.
- On se voit demain. → We’ll see each other tomorrow.
- On y va. → Let's go.
Grammatically, 'on' is singular, so it uses 'il/elle' verb forms, but in real life it often means we.
Why do French people do this?
- It’s shorter
- It’s more natural
- It sounds less formal
- And it’s what people actually say in daily conversation
Using 'nous' isn’t wrong — it’s just more formal and is used more frequently in written French.
If you want to sound more natural when speaking, 'on' is your friend.
👉 Is this something you’d noticed already, or did it come as a surprise when you arrived in France?
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Why did no-one mention 'on' at school?
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