(Sorry, this is in English): "on" as a subject

[ucrdem]

2. p.s. the genius of on

is that unlike say, pas or est-ce que, which are semantically hollow if not to say redundant, on shows a Latin-like economy of expression, gathering in a single nasalized vowel (in most cases, barring liaison) at least four lexically related meanings:

1 - the indefinite personal pronoun expressed in English by "one," as in, "one does what one can do";
2 - the collective indefinite noun expressed by English "people," as in "people are lisening";
3 - the 1st-person plural subject pronoun expressed by English "we," as in "we're having lunch,"
4 - the 1st-person plural imperative pronoun expressed by English "us," as in "Let us begin."

In the last case, on is used with a 3rd-person singular verb in the present, showing a refreshing thrift, as "on va," let's go, is otherwise expressed by "allons-y," let's go (there). Here are the four again with English equivalents:

1 - On fait qu'on peut faire - one does what one can do;
2 - On écoute - people are listening;
3 - On déjuene - we're having lunch;
4 - On va à la plage - let's go to the beach!

The truth is that when it comes to on, y, and en, the exact shade of meaning is typically determined by context, absent which it's hard to know whether on écoute means we listen, they listen, one listens, or let's listen.

p.s. it's much too late to go leafing through dusty tomes here so if I missed or misspelled anything please let me know, merci chérs amis!!