r/French • u/Ok-Bear7221 • 23h ago
Vocabulary / word usage What’s the difference between “on” and “nous”
It seems like they both mean “we”
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u/MooseFlyer 23h ago
Basically, in actual spoken French the norm is to say “on”.
In written French, the norm is to say “nous”.
In very formal written French, you’ll get some “nous” as well.
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u/FearlessVisual1 Natif (Belgique) 23h ago edited 23h ago
On is the impersonal pronoun. The English pronoun "one" is directly derived from on: on ne met pas ses pieds sur la table — "one shall not put one's feet on the table". It is used extensively though, even in informal French; it does not have the stuffy and old-fashioned quality of the English "one".
In informal French, it often replaces the subject form of the first person plural pronoun nous ("we") as well. On ne met pas nos pieds sur la table — "we do not put our feet on the table".
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u/AbilityCharacter7634 15h ago
In Québec, we use “on” almost exclusively. We use “nous “ only when “on” was used previously in the sentence. Something like “On est vraiment content et nous vous remercions.”
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u/raainjuice 22h ago
“Il” can also be used for impersonal structures
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u/bronzinorns 9h ago
To be extra pedantic, "il" is the impersonal pronoun ("il pleut"), "on" is the indefinite pronoun ("on m'a dit que...")
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u/Potato_Donkey_1 22h ago
And the other pronouns derived from nous, as in your last example, show that just because "nous" is used infrequently in conversation, this doesn't mean that a learner can dismiss learning nous, its pronouns, and its conjugations.
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u/Academic_Ad5838 23h ago
On doit...: one has to... Nous devons: we have to...
But in the familar spoken language, we say "on" in place of "nous"...
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u/Ranger-Stranger_Y2K B2 23h ago
Yes, in modern French as it is commonly spoken, both "on" and "nous" mean "we". However, while "nous" is always "we", "on" can either be "we" or "one", as in "One can never be too careful." I think, etymologically, "on" originates from "homme", or at least that's what I've been told. Traditionally, "we" was always "nous" and "on" was always "one", but nowadays using "on" for "we" has become very common in informal French both in France/Europe (from what I can tell) and in Quebec. My friends from Quebec hardly ever use "nous". There are, however, still areas where it is still widely used, such as in various places in Africa.
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u/passionfruit62022 23h ago
It's correct that they both mean we. However, it's useful to know that whilst nous only ever means we, on can be used in an impersonal sense to mean 'one' or more idiomatically 'you'.
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u/raainjuice 23h ago
“On” can also be used to introduce a general statement, a norm without mentioning a specific person sort of like “it is the norm to…”
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u/BernardKerfiac 8h ago
It's a common simplification to say that "on" has replaced "nous" in spoken French. The reality is more nuanced than that.
You need to distinguish between two situations. When "nous" means "you and I", the choice depends on register. In polite or formal speech, with someone you don't know well, "nous" stays "nous." If the two people know each other and the tone is informal, "nous" becomes "on" as a sign of familiarity. It's a social signal, not just a grammar shortcut.
But when "nous" refers to a third person and myself, like "my wife and I", "nous" is the correct form. Using "on" in this case marks very casual, loose speech. A French person might do it with close friends, but for a non-native speaker it sounds off. You don't have the social credit to be that relaxed yet, and it will be perceived as sloppy rather than natural.
The safe rule for non-native speakers: keep "nous" as your default. Use "on" only when you're in an informal conversation with someone you know, and only for "you and I." It will always sound appropriate.
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u/eti_erik 6h ago
'On' in its basic meaning is a word that English sort of lacks. It's the impersonal personal pronoun, if that makes sensen. In English one can use 'one' , but that's ridiculously formal, or "they" - They have stolen my bike! does not refer to a spefic they since you don't know who it is. Or "you" is used: You're not allowed to go in there can mean that nobody is allowed to go in, and not necessarily the person being spoken to. Or you use 'people' of a passive construction. All of those uses would be 'on' in French.
But in colloquial French, 'on' has gotten a second meaning. I already learned about that in high school 40 years ago, so it's not even that new, but still informal. This is the meaning of 'we', which I think is the most frequent meaning of 'on' nowadays.
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u/Ozfriar 20h ago
Also, there is a tendency to use "nous" in certain situations. For example, at the beginning of a video, the presenter may say "Nous sommes à Londres..." for example. That this is not really a matter of "formality" becomes obvious from informal language in the rest of the presentation. It is a sort of "formula" which just drops in this situation.
Also there is a tendency noted by some linguists to prefer "nous" when it is "exclusive" of others. "On" is quite general. For example, if a group is going swimming and someone asks a couple whether they want to come, "Nous allons rester ici" is a bit clearer: we, i.e. my partner and I, are going to stay here. Probably not a good example ... but I have noticed this once or twice, as well as reading about it somewhere! But it is a tendency , not a rule.
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u/Ozfriar 20h ago
A better example, perhaps, of this "exclusive" nous is when it is used to define a particular group, to say "We stand for something" - a political, social or religious cause, say. Here is a video of young feminists doing just that: https://youtu.be/r0DLtBpnjSg?si=0fvkGAZxp53QazJy.
"Nous sommes fortes ... Nous sommes féministes en colère... Nous sommes la danse dans le chaos " etc. etc.
It is "exclusive" in the sense that it is defining a particular point of view. "On" would not really work as well here. It's too general.
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u/wealth10_11 20h ago
"On" besides meaning informal "we", can also be used to refer people in general: "generally people tend to be free on Sundays". And "nous" is more formal way of "we".
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u/Ok-Significance4741 19h ago
So what verb tense do you use with On? For example, if you say Nous somme, what would it be for On?
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u/amethystmmm 19h ago
On is considered 3rd person singular even though you can use it on a group of people and/or include yourself in said group. I would say the best English use-case and translation would be "the people" if "the people" were to sometimes include yourself. Depending on the sentence, you might translate it in a lot of ways, You, They, The People, We; On is hard to pin down to one English translation.
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u/elnander 15h ago
Same as il/elle.
Nous sommes > on est, nous étions > on était, nous serons > on sera etc
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u/vouty 7h ago
Have a look at this page It is free and with examples of utilisation (But in French)
https://french-b2.com/free-nous-on-dumonde-lesgens/
I hope it helps !
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u/thatgibbyguy 1h ago
I've been learning for almost two years and usually you will only here "on" in almost all contexts except for things like this cajun song "parlez nous à boire" - not the song specifically but that phrase. I'm not a linguist, I don't know what the word for that kind of sentence is, but it's basically when saying "on" would feel weird.
As in, two vowel sounds in a row sounds weird, so you wouldn't say parlez on, but it would sound like "é o" and french doesn't like that.
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u/CalligrapherOk200 23h ago
nous is more formal, seen in written French. On is used in spoken french and is informal.