Uploaded September 2023 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
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.
💾 Read, save and/or print the full written lesson here (free): commeunefrancaise.com/blog/nous-vs-on&source=youtube
🎓 Join my Everyday French crash course (free): commeunefrancaise.com/welcome?utm_medium=youtube&source=youtube
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
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.
💾 Read, save and/or print the full written lesson here (free): commeunefrancaise.com/blog/nous-vs-on&source=youtube
🎓 Join my Everyday French crash course (free): commeunefrancaise.com/welcome?utm_medium=youtube&source=youtube
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
