FR: on + notre, nos / son, sa, ses

[lifehouse]

Pour la phrase: "Do we need to explain our answers?"

Peut-on la traduire comme: "Est-ce qu'on doit expliquer nos réponses?"

Je ne suis pas certain si c'est correct parce que le sujet n'est pas dans la première personne du pluriel. Merci d'avance

Moderator note: Multiple threads merged to create this one. See also the following related discussions:
FR: on (= nous, tu, etc.) + past participle & adjective agreement
FR: on se / nous nous + reflexive verb - pronoun choice
FR: object pronoun that corresponds to subject "on"

 

[Monsieur Hoole]

C'est possible, si on est pluriel

si non:

On doit expliquer ses réponses

M.H.

 

[Gil]

Pour éviter les critiques:
Devons-nous justifier nos réponses?

 

[mystiquep]

If I was to write a sentence as - "On écrit nos examens le jeudi" - would it mean "We are writing / One writes our exams on thursday.

Or is the phrase to be written as - "On écrit ses examens le jeudi"?

Merci

 

[DearPrudence]

I don't quite get it.
Do you have the sentence in French or do you have it in English?
I don't think it's in French because normally we don't "écrire des examens"

OK, let's see:
"on a/passe nos examens le jeudi" (colloquial) = "Nous avons nos examens le jeudi"
(so it can't be "on passe ses examens le jeudi" in this case)
"We have our exams on Thursdays"

And then I can't go further because I'm not quite sure what's confusing you ...

 

[Canard]

If it means "one", you use "ses". If it means "our", you use "nos" despite the apparent conflict of subject. For the same reason, you write "On n'est jamais prêts" for "nous", and "On n'est jamais prêt" for a general statement.

Cheers!

 

[mystiquep]

Why, of course! You do not write "écrire les examens"....thanks for that clarifications! I guess when you think so much in english, you tend to forget the french rules .

And no, the sentence came neither from english or french. I made it up . So, ill correct it.

And Thank you Canard. My doubt about the usage of adj possessif alongside "on" has been clarified.

Merci beaucoup vous deux.

 

[Matcauthon]

Je trouvais toujours les troubles ici. Je voulais utilisé "on" mais quand j'utilise "nos" ou "notre" je me sens comme j'utilise nous... et ce serait étrange. Alors, est-il un mots qui signifie "our" comme "on" signifie "nous"?

 

[gvergara]

Non, il n'y a pas de possessifs "spéciaux" associés à on quand ce pronom est utilisé au sens de nous.

On est allés à la fête avec nos parents.

 

[Nerevanin]

Hi,
when I use "on" in french to say "nous (we)" and I want to use a possessive pronoun, should I use "notre/nos" ou "son/sa/ses"?

I would really appreciate any help. Thank you in advance.
Nerevanin

 

[DearPrudence]

Hi, Nerevanin

When you use "on" for "we", then, you use "notre/nos".

"On va voir nos parents ce week-end."

 

[OLN]

Oui, c'est une question de sens.

 

[Maître Capello]

In short:

On = someone → son, sa, ses
On = we → notre, nos

On ne se sert pas de sa tête quand on a dix-sept ans.
On va voir nos parents ce week-end.