Sorry to add to an already long thread, but I have a feeling that when using "on" as informal "we" (rather than impersonal "one") I’ve seen "nous" used as the stress pronoun, not "soi". Is that right?
What about "on"?
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What about "on"?
Hi Anne,
Thank you for those two examples.
In both of them, soi wouldn't work as it translates as oneself (see ref. below to find other translations), and it is plain 'us' here.
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/soi
The pronoun 'soi' ( or the reinforced 'soi-même') is used when 'on' can be replaced by 'one' or 'people', meaning a universal truth -
On est bien chez soi = There's no place like home ( Lit- People feel really well in their own home )
On n'est jamais si bien servi que par soi-même = If you want something done, do it yourself (Lit- One is never served so well as by oneself.
Hope this helps!
Do you have an example so that we can discuss something specific?
Thanks, Chris. To adapt two of the examples above:
On croit que Céline ne pense jamais à nous (we believe)
On est heureux qu’elle chante aussi bien que nous (we are)
There are two lessons about using "on" to mean "we", but they don’t include stress pronouns (or adjective/ past participle agreement). I think I understand it, but it’d be nice to have it in one of the lessons.
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