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"On" to mean "we" in Canada | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Spinchäeb Ape Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4472 days ago 146 posts - 180 votes  Speaks: English*, German | Message 1 of 21 15 December 2012 at 5:09am | IP Logged | ||
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In my French grammar book, it explained that "nous" is the French word for "we." It said that "on" usually means "one" as in: "If one drives above the speed limit, one might get a ticket." However, it said that on occasion "on" is used to mean "we." To be honest, I didn't understand the conditions in which "on" might be the preferred term over "nous."
I've been watching films both from France and from French-language Canada just to hear the language a lot. I've noticed "on" used a lot to mean "we" in the Canadian films. Is that a characteristic of Canadian French? Do they prefer "on" to "nous" to mean "we"? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| lecavaleur Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4779 days ago 146 posts - 295 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish | Message 2 of 21 15 December 2012 at 5:24am | IP Logged | ||
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"On" is used to mean "we" in informal speech across the French-speaking world. It is
not specific to Quebec French nor is it more common here than anywhere else. It *might* be more acceptable in formal situations in Quebec than in France, but that's simply conjecture. Point is, everyone, everywhere uses "on" instead of "we" in colloquial speech. It's just easier. As a sidenote, there really is no such thing as "Canadian" French. There are several varieties of French spoken in Canada, the largest of which is Quebec French, but there is also Acadian French and various dialects of minority communities in other provinces. There is no dialectical unity in Canada as far as French is concerned, so we can't really accurately speak of a "Canadian" French. If you were watching a movie, chances are it was Quebec French you were listening to. Edited by lecavaleur on 15 December 2012 at 5:30am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5432 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 3 of 21 15 December 2012 at 5:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Although "on" is primarily used for nous or we in modern French, its usage is actually much more complicated than that. I highly recommend the following article:
How to use on 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5383 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 4 of 21 15 December 2012 at 6:20am | IP Logged | ||
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Generally, nous (as a subject pronoun) is not part of the informal language in Québec,
where on is the equivalent of we. I would never use nous when speaking to friends or family (I'm from Québec), as it would sound either pedantic or very formal. I'm not even sure I'd use it in a job interview. Nous is essentially reserved to the very formal language in Québec and is much less common than in Europe. Consequently, on is indeed more common, so I must disagree with lecavaleur. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5534 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 21 15 December 2012 at 6:43am | IP Logged | ||
It would be hard to use "nous" as a subject pronoun less often than some of the French people I know. :-) I'd estimate that they use it less than 1 time in 1000 in a social context, unless my ears are lying to me. I hear "nous" a lot more often on various French news channels, mostly during "talking heads" discussions or political debates. But that tends to be a very formal register. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5432 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 6 of 21 15 December 2012 at 7:00am | IP Logged | ||
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I think it's hard to say that on is more common in Québec than in France for the subject pronoun "nous". As @Lecavaleur pointed out, it may be a bit more common in more formal contexts in Québec.
What is important to keep in mind, however, is that not all on are equivalents of nous. Remember that on can represent all the other subject pronouns. What may be happening here is that generally speaking on may be more frequent in Quebec than in France but not necessarily more frequent for nous. For example, on is widely used as an equivalent of the English passive form, as in: On sert le (petit) déjeuner toute la journée. (Breakfast is served all day) En Europe on parle beaucoup de langues. (Many languages are spoken in Europe.) On mange beaucoup de poulet aujourd'hui. (A lot of chicken is eaten today.) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5383 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 7 of 21 15 December 2012 at 7:03am | IP Logged | ||
You are probably right; I'm not going to contest that because I haven't specifically evaluated the frequency of subject nous in European French. My main point though is that, for me, when speaking informally to another Québécois, nous is simply not accessible, whereas I do hear the French people I know here use nous on occasion. Edited by Arekkusu on 15 December 2012 at 7:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lecavaleur Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4779 days ago 146 posts - 295 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish | Message 8 of 21 15 December 2012 at 7:07am | IP Logged | ||
European speakers in informal speech do not use 'nous' any more frequently than do Quebec speakers and if so, not by much. As I said, I think the main difference which makes it seem more common in Québec is that its use spans all registers and is never considered too informal for speech, whereas that may not be the case in France. But the same can be said of Quebec usage in general. As a New World variant, it tends to be more relaxed and less stratified than its European counterpart. Just think of the decline of vouvoiement, the more liberal use of words like "dégueulasse" and "bouffe", which are considered improper for polite conversation in France, but which are used by everyone in Quebec, in all social situations, without batting an eye. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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