The first two sentences of the exercise use "on" rather than "nous" for we. Why is the "nous conjugation of the imperative verb (prenons) used rather than the "on" conjugation (prend)? That is why "Prenons un selfie"... rather than "Prend un selfie"...?
Switching from On to Nous
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
White L.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Switching from On to Nous
This question relates to:French writing exercise "Visiting the Arc de Triomphe in Paris"
Asked 1 month ago
I think I understand the confusion White, in the imperative there are only 3 forms -
in the case of ‘prendre’ -
Prends ! = Take! (for a person you say ‘tu’ to )
Prenons ! = Let's take! (the only nous form )
Prenez != Take! ( for a person you would say ‘vous’ to or addressing several people.
Hope this helps!
Jim J. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonjour White,
I see this "Prenons un selfie" as being equivalent to "let's --> let us"
It is not an instruction but more of an enthusiastic suggestion from one person to the other.
On can mean either we/one/people (French Subject Pronouns)
Nous vs on to say "we" in French (French Subject Pronouns)
I hope this helps.
Bonne journée
Jim
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level