# we go to the beach



## Musical Chairs

I feel like this question has probably been asked many times before, but I searched the two words and didn't find what I wanted. I am confused about when you would use "on" and "nous."

For example, what is the difference between "on y va à la plage" and "nous allons à la plage?" They do both translate to "we go to the beach," right? Is one more awkward than the other?


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## Arzhela

Musical Chairs said:


> I feel like this question has probably been asked many times before, but I searched the two words and didn't find what I wanted. I am confused about when you would use "on" and "nous."
> 
> For example, what is the difference between "on y va à la plage" and "nous allons à la plage?" They do both translate to "we go to the beach," right? Is one more awkward than the other?


Hello,
Yes, they both have the same meaning but you have to say :
- "_on va à la plage_" or "_on y va"_ (_"y"_ stands for _"à la plage"_ if you already mentioned _la plage_ before)
"on" is more colloquial than "nous". Most of the time, we say "on" and we write "nous".
Hope it helps.


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## Musical Chairs

But is one stranger to say than the other? I'm still having trouble understanding which you know to use when you want to say anything that translates to "we" in English. Why do you say "on" sometimes and "nous" other times?

Edit: So is it sort of like the difference between "tu" and "vous" except looser?


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## képi

"On" is used more than "nous" in *speech*, but in *writing*, "nous" is considered better


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## guylearningfrench

I guess you could kinda see it like that (in reference to Musical chairs comment). When I first learned it, I was basically told the same thing that Arzhela said above. You'll notice that 'on' is far more common in spoken non-formal French, whereas in a political speech or any old program on the radio you'll come across a good number of 'nous'. 

But 'on' can have a formal signification as well in written French as one. As in 'one would have thought'; 'on aurait pensé'.


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## Musical Chairs

Okay, so does that hold true for all these cases?
a) you're writing to a friend you know very well
b) you're posting in a blog of some sort like livejournal
c) you are writing to your boss
d) you are writing a paper for class

Also, if you were speaking to somebody you knew very well, would it be *strange* if you said "nous?" I did learn in class that saying "je t'en prie" to your best friend is strange because "je vous en prie" is extremely polite.


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## poulbot77

Hello!
In fact French people doesn't use "ON" in the correct way! "ON" is undefined, as ON DIT (people says) (everybody, somebody, few...), "NOUS" is well defined, NOUS DISONS (you and me, your mother and you, you and your friends...).
I hope to be clear!
Have a good day!
PP


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## Musical Chairs

Hmm...I guess I understand this the best. Thanks.


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## guylearningfrench

Far be it from me to argue with a native, but it seems to me a bit misleading to say that people don't use 'on' correctly. Languages evolve and 'on' (and this even how it is often taught) has become a commonplace substitute for 'nous' in a definite sense. It perhaps doesn't hold to its original use or meaning, but neither do toé or moé - we wouldn't say that people misuse toi and moi though, would we?


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## Musical Chairs

guylearningfrench said:


> Far be it from me to argue with a native, but it seems to me a bit misleading to say that people don't use 'on' correctly. Languages evolve and 'on' (and this even how it is often taught) has become a commonplace substitute for 'nous' in a definite sense. It perhaps doesn't hold to its original use or meaning, but neither do toé or moé - we wouldn't say that people misuse toi and moi though, would we?



What do you mean by "It perhaps doesn't hold to its original use or meaning, but neither do toé or moé - we wouldn't say that people misuse toi and moi though, would we?"

Maybe this is just one of things you'd only get if you were immersed in the culture. Sort of like when and how to appropriately use slang.


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## poulbot77

Try again!
Example: En Russie on boit de la Vodka (who ? We don't know, not all the Russians but Vodka is a current drink in Russia, so you can't say "En Russie ils boivent de la Vodka!").
En France on boit du vin, mais chez moi nous buvons de l'eau !
Not easy !
PP


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## broglet

poulbot gives an interesting example here - the general principle seems to be that in spoken French 'we' is always translated as 'on' except where this would be confusing, illogical or ambiguous, in which case 'nous' has to be used.


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## guylearningfrench

I don't disagree that there are occasions where 'nous' might be more appropriate, but as far as casual spoken language is concerned, it would seem to me that there are completely interchangable (as 'we', not as a replacement for what would be 'they' in English).

If I say to a friend that another friend and I will meet him in a bit, I'd say 'on va te rejoindre tant tôt', and I don't think that there would be any confusion as to who 'on' is refering to, in which case it is definite, as 'nous' would have been.


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## itka

Musical Chairs said:


> Maybe this is just one of things you'd only get if you were immersed in the culture. Sort of like when and how to appropriately use slang.



I completely agree with this opinion.

ON often replace "nous", but it can as well replace "je", "tu", "il", "vous","ils"... and of course, it has the meaning "indefinite" : somebody. These are stylistic uses but if you pay attention, you'll notice they are more frequent as we think.


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