Why can «On ne peut pas stationner ici» mean ‘You cannot park here’ but not ‘We cannot park here’? The verb tense doesn’t match either.

S. C.A1Kwiziq community member

Why can «On ne peut pas stationner ici» mean ‘You cannot park here’ but not ‘We cannot park here’? The verb tense doesn’t match either.

Asked 6 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Shari,

'On ne peut pas stationner ici'    is     'You cannot park here'...

The you here applies to everyone, in other words,  it is forbidden to park here.

It is a bit like: 

On ne sait jamais ce que nous réserve l'avenir = You never know what the future holds

Which is a saying for a truth that applies to everyone.

Not sure what you mean about the verb tense not matching...

S. C.A1Kwiziq community member
Thanks, Cécile.  I selected all three in my quiz answer - One, You and We - but the answer was just One and You.  I was trying to figure out how I could decipher why We was not included and thought the form of the conjugation (sorry, not tense) ‘peut’ might be an indication.  But ‘peut’ matches the third person spelling so that left me with the question of why You and not We.
Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Shari,

All 3 are correct - I just tried the question myself and it accepted all 3.

With these multiple selection questions, I sometimes find that one of the answers I was sure I had selected is missing. Then it can be confusing when you compare the correct answer with what you supposedly entered. Maybe that's happened to you.

I have a feeling there may be a bug somewhere - perhaps if you click on the answers too quickly.

S. C. asked:View original

Why can «On ne peut pas stationner ici» mean ‘You cannot park here’ but not ‘We cannot park here’? The verb tense doesn’t match either.

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