Agreement of past participle with "on" in compound past tense

James M.C1Kwiziq community member

Agreement of past participle with "on" in compound past tense

Il m'a emmené dans un bar branché du centre-ville, où on est restés jusqu'à deux heures du matin ! Why is "restes" plural when is singular even though it means "we"?

This question relates to:French writing exercise "A drunken evening"

Freeform Writing Exercise C1

Asked 3 years ago

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CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi James,

Just to add to Chris' comments, here is the lesson on the different uses of the pronoun 'on' and the rules of agreements.

On = we, one, people

Like13 years ago

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

When on is used to mean "we", the verb is singular but any participle will be plural. Weird, I know, but that's just how it is.

Like53 years ago

James M. asked:

Agreement of past participle with "on" in compound past tense

Il m'a emmené dans un bar branché du centre-ville, où on est restés jusqu'à deux heures du matin ! Why is "restes" plural when is singular even though it means "we"?

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