Ça dépend. On a de la confiture d'abricot

J. L.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Ça dépend. On a de la confiture d'abricot

"Ça dépend. On a de la confiture d'abricot ?"  Interesting twist in the conversation. I mistakenly read it  as spkr 1.."ca depend"/spkr 2.. "on a de la confitured'abricot"..encouragingly sating what she has.

For future reference thoug... is this how I should ask if I  were in a deli for instance. Instead of saying "vous" I use "on" ..thus avoiding the   interpretation of "do YOU have" and correctly directing the question "do they (the cafe/deli) have?"... Seems a trivial point but I am  curious.

Asked 2 years ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

This is a conversation between friends/associates about what ‘we have’ available, at the table or as part of the service etc - ‘on’ here is equivalent to “we”, not they. 

Although I have seen occasional usage of ‘on’ extending beyond meaning just “one” or “we”, it is not standard, and if asking what ‘they’ - the café,  bistrot, or restaurant - have, the plural pronoun ‘ils’ (referring to the business in plural just we regularly do in English) is appropriate. If asking a server or worker, the formal ‘vous’ is appropriate.  Hope this helps. 

J. L. asked:View original

Ça dépend. On a de la confiture d'abricot

"Ça dépend. On a de la confiture d'abricot ?"  Interesting twist in the conversation. I mistakenly read it  as spkr 1.."ca depend"/spkr 2.. "on a de la confitured'abricot"..encouragingly sating what she has.

For future reference thoug... is this how I should ask if I  were in a deli for instance. Instead of saying "vous" I use "on" ..thus avoiding the   interpretation of "do YOU have" and correctly directing the question "do they (the cafe/deli) have?"... Seems a trivial point but I am  curious.

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