Why You Should Never Say 'Nous' in Spoken French (Improve Your Fluency)

Spoken French has its own set of unwritten rules. Don’t use “nous” is one of them. Find out why, in today’s French fluency lesson.

Did you first learn French in high school or college? If so, you probably focused on written French. Now that you’re having French conversations or watching French television shows, you’ve probably noticed that spoken French often doesn’t match what you learned in the classroom.

There’s an easy explanation: spoken French follows a different set of (unwritten) rules than written French. One of these rules is that we almost never use “nous” in spoken French. In today’s lesson, I’ll tell you a little bit more about why we do this, what to use instead, and some other advice for boosting your fluency.

0:00 - Intro
0:31 - 1) “Nous” vs “On”
2:58 - 2) How to use “on” : conjugation & other uses
7:12 - 3) Actually, French people do use “nous” !
9:22 - 4) Practice Makes Perfect!
13:35 - Outro

Take care and stay safe.
😘 from Grenoble, France.

Géraldine

[sportswriter]

On aime beaucoup de vidéos de Géraldine

[patrickbotti]

I am a 69 year old Frenchman (who lives in the US). I love your video. In my opinion, there has not been much change in the use of "nous" and "on". Since my youngest age, I was taught that "nous" is formal, and should be used in formal circumstances. "On" was always the preferred option in every day's French although our"purist" French teachers preferred having us using the "nous" form". I grew up in an educated family, and I was known to have a very good spoken and written French. Yet, I seldom used "nous", and this is true to this day. This was true for all my friends and acquaintances growing up. By the way, I also think it is easier for foreigners to use "on" than "nous". There are cases when "nous" cannot be avoided. For example the English sentence "what about us?" would be in French "et nous alors?" One of the commenters below alludes to the fact that "on" can also be "undefined" as is "one" in English. This is another use of "on" of course.

[JayTemple]

You make it sound as though those of us who learned in a classroom didn't learn "on, " but one of the first questions we learn to ask is, "Comment dit-on ..."

[mirvids]

We were taught that "On" in French meant "One" in English. As in "One has to wash their hands before eating..." . In everyday English, most people would say "you" instead of "one". As in "you have to wash your hands before eating" and sometimes even qualify it by then saying "as in one, not you" if you felt the person you were talking to thought you literally meant them.

[MarcSofia]

Leçon bien faite à propos d’un sujet qui fait bien trébucher les étudiants étrangers et dont le titre — un peu “clickbait” d’ailleurs — m’avait intrigué. J’ose me permettre certaines observations que je souhaite vous être utiles.

@4:52 Il faudrait préciser que cet exemple fait référence à un groupe féminin (‘prêtes’).

@5:43 Pour expliquer le cas du ‘on’ impersonnel aux anglophones, il suffit de le traduire par “one”, ainsi que d’autres en ont déjà fait la remarque : “In Spain, one goes to bed late.” “When one has but love…” Cependant, en anglais, cet usage est d’un style plutôt soutenu et même hautain.

@8:20 Dans le pléonasme des pronoms sujets pour renforcer ou exprimer l’opposition, tel que « Nous, on est prêts » (ici, en passant, l’accord est correct), « moi, je suis… toi, tu es… » on peut imaginer une préposition elliptique qui force le pronom objet: « Quant à nous, on est prêts. » On peut aussi illustrer l’usage semblable en anglais : “Me, I am ready.”

@9:09 Attention ici, deux fautes grammaticales: 1° il faut écrire: « on nous a vus » (pluriel par accord du participe passé qui suit ‘avoir’ : ‘nous’ est l’objet direct et précède; un exemple où l’ouïe sert de bon guide : « nos vacances, on les a prises ») ; 2° il faut : « on s’est vus » (pluriel par accord du participe passé avec verbe pronominal réciproque et pronom objet direct, par syllepse grammaticale). Exemple littéraire : « On ne se serait jamais rencontrés. » (Sartre)

[jacquelinevanfossan]

I was always taught that first, you learn the proper grammar of a foreign language. Once you are fluent, you can learn to speak colloquially.

[biligator]

This was fascinating! I wish any of my native-French-speaking high school teachers had bothered to teach us this rule. Maybe they didn't want to confuse us? I will say, though, that the "y'all" comparison could have been left out of this lesson. Y'all is just one regional example of the many ways English speakers around the world address the problem of English no longer having a distinct second-person plural pronoun. Avoiding the "nous" form is not plugging a similar hole in the French language.

[smokeyak]

Thank-you for this lesson, very helpful! 😊
Just to clarify in Canada we would never say y'all. It's very much a southern usa slang. Just to let you know.

[dreistein]

"On y va" said the friendly policeman in the morning when we had to leave Bois de Boulogne where we had been illegally camping. This is how I learned it in 1981. 😄But still I think "on" lacks the element of togetherness.🤔

[babstra]

I've always wondered why I have trouble understanding french people, but at the same time understanding africans speaking french is so easy. now I realize the difference is french people speak a whole different language than us who learned it at school.

[athompso]

I'm afraid that while this advice might be correct for some parts of the world (like France itself), there are many parts of la Francophonie that still use "nous" liberally in speech (in this case, Franco-Manitoban French, in Canada). Notre langue évolue plus lentement, ici, que dans la Métropole, donc nous continuerons à utiliser « nous », merci bien!

[alexandrorocca]

I studied French for four years and then I started working with a chef from Metz. I immediately realized that you can't really learn a foreign language in school. French is my fourth language, but I haven't practiced it lately, and that's too bad. I like it a lot.

[donmago]

During our first six months (1975) living and working in provincial Auvergne, my wife and I had had advanced just enough in our French lessons to feel confident when adventuring out. The first time I recall having heard "On" in the place of "Nous" was when we encountered a special character who spontaneously invited us to his country farm. After seeing the cute baby lambs and other animals he said, "On bois (boit?) un cannon, " which meant, "Let's have a glass of 'rouge, ' i.e. red wine." It was a special moment and a special introduction to the use of "On." I do hope I got this right because I have been a big fan of "On" ever since.

[reallifelove]

You are a very good teacher! Thank you for this lesson :)

[anthonydavid]

Crazy that I knew this before starting to watch the video!!! I'm tickled with myself. I learned this in high school French back in the late 1970s.

[myrnaduarte]

❤ me encanta todo tu estilo y la manera de explicar todo
Hace años que te sigo y me han servido muchísimo tus lecciones
Además practico mi inglés 😅
Muchas gracias

[mrparts]

Funny. In Spanish, the equivalent “Uno” is used instead of “we” but it’s a very particular distant “we”., very impersonal. Sometimes it’s more like a “you” in English for phrases like “Mira, uno no sabe que va a pasar mañana” -> “look, we/you don’t know what going to happen tomorrow”.

[jerrytracey]

The modern English equivalent is "you", applied indirectly, e.g., "You must follow the rules". A more formal, older style, uses the word "One", which can either refer to the speaker themselves (e.g., "One does not wish to complain", where "One" = "I"), or more generally (e.g., "One should comply with etiquette", where "One" = "Everyone", "We" or "People")

[pantera]

Thank you! "Nous arrivons demain" et " On arrive demain"

[kayjones]

J'ai aimé bien l’exercice de la fin de cette vidéo💞