The Misery of My French Lessons
....wah, wah, wah...I must get over my mental block and just throw myself into this, right?
*****
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
ok, so je suis = i am. tu es, you are. il es, he is/elle es, she is. what the fuck is "on"??? on es? but if on is really like a we, how can it be singular tense? your language is fucked. I'm never going to get this
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
on is used when it isn't precise
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
give me an example.
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
On est tous des hommes
We are all men
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
On va rigoler
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
We are going to laugh
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
It's used for generalities
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
so it's est instead of es? on est, not on es?
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
yes
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
Je suis
Tu es
Il, Elle, on est
Nous sommes
Vous etes
Ils, elles sont
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
bah, you have too many irregular verbs too!
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
lol as bad as the english yes
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
this is what we get when we let languages evolve *cries*
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
sorry dearest
*****
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
ok, so je suis = i am. tu es, you are. il es, he is/elle es, she is. what the fuck is "on"??? on es? but if on is really like a we, how can it be singular tense? your language is fucked. I'm never going to get this
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
on is used when it isn't precise
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
give me an example.
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
On est tous des hommes
We are all men
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
On va rigoler
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
We are going to laugh
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
It's used for generalities
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
so it's est instead of es? on est, not on es?
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
yes
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
Je suis
Tu es
Il, Elle, on est
Nous sommes
Vous etes
Ils, elles sont
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
bah, you have too many irregular verbs too!
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
lol as bad as the english yes
The Future Mrs. Sol says:
this is what we get when we let languages evolve *cries*
Alex's are happy on Thursdays and ecstatic on Fridays says:
sorry dearest
posted by Kira | 6:52 PM
4 Comments:
Hi! I just randomly came across your blog, and first off, you seem to be quite the awesome person. Secondly, I just learned something new about French. I took it for 5 years in high school (Canada being a supposedly bilingual country. It isn't, not really.) and I never learned the proper use of on. I don't know how to explain what I thought, but it was odd. Anyway, yay for random blogs and Alex sounds awesome, you're a lucky lucky person! Well, bye!
You are not alone in this difficulty in comprehending "on." My students used to have fits over it. Another way to think of it (and I hope this isn't more confusing) is sort of like how we say "they" in English when we don't have a specific subject. "They" speak English in Canada. (On parle anglais au Canada.) OR you could think of it as "one" - One speaks English in Canada. One drives on the left side of the road in England. (Which could also be "They drive on the left side of the road...")
Conversationally, it seems like they (heheheh - on) use "on" a whole lot when we would use we. But that was more informal.
Jessica, thanks for showing up and yes, I AM lucky to have Alex :) Half of my Canadian friends only know English, but the ones I have who speak both are from Ontario and Quebec (I'm sure you find that no surprise!) My brother and his family lives in Alberta, and my best guy friend in the world lives there too (Edmonton). None of them speak French!
Angie, Alex went over "on" with me again today and he sort of sold me on the idea of never using it. He said that it's easiest to just avoid it because it's considered highly informal French (he said he's never used it on any school paper, for example). That makes sense to me because as you explain it, well, I'd be asking my students to pull that vague "they" out of their essays too! It might just be best to avoid it...but I want to know WHAT it is, yes, so I can translate it if somebody uses it on me! So now I know :D Thanks to both of you :D
Yeah, the language thing doesn't surprise me at all. I'm in BC, so I'm about as far from the French speaking areas as you can get. The funny thing is when you go to Newfoundland and no one seems to be speaking any recongnizable launguage at all!
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