Look at these examples:
On est sortis à la Saint-Valentin.
We went out on Valentine's Day.
Le jour de la Saint-Valentin, tu passes du temps avec ton bien-aimé.
On Valentine's Day, you spend time with your loved one.
À la Sainte-Catherine, les femmes célibataires mangent du gâteau.
On St Catherine's Day, single women eat cake.
Le jour de la Sainte-Catherine, les femmes célibataires mangent du gâteau.
On St Catherine's Day, single women eat cake.
Je suis né à la Saint-Georges.
I was born on St George's day.
Je suis né le jour de la Saint-Georges.
I was born on St George's day.
Note that when talking about doing something on a name day, you can use either:
or
le jour de la + Saint(e) [name].
While à la is more general, le jour de la insists a bit more on the very day.
It's because they're considered as la fête de = the celebration of that name.
Therefore, you will always say à la + [name day], or le jour de la + [name day].
À la Toussaint en France, les gens ne travaillent pas.
On All Saints' Day in France, people don't work.
Le jour de la Toussaint, on met des fleurs sur la tombe des gens que l'on a perdus.
On All Saints' Day, we put flowers on the grave of people we lost.
Also see Using prepositions with celebration days, like Christmas
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
À la Sainte-Catherine, les femmes célibataires mangent du gâteau.
On St Catherine's Day, single women eat cake.
On est sortis à la Saint-Valentin.
We went out on Valentine's Day.
À la Toussaint en France, les gens ne travaillent pas.
On All Saints' Day in France, people don't work.
Le jour de la Saint-Jean, on fait un grand feu de joie.
On St John's Day, we have a big bonfire.
Le jour de la Toussaint, on met des fleurs sur la tombe des gens que l'on a perdus.
On All Saints' Day, we put flowers on the grave of people we lost.
Je suis né le jour de la Saint-Georges.
I was born on St George's day.
Je me souviens, c'était à la St Jean.
I remember, it was on St John's Day.
Je suis né à la Saint-Georges.
I was born on St George's day.
Le jour de la Sainte-Catherine, les femmes célibataires mangent du gâteau.
On St Catherine's Day, single women eat cake.
Le jour de la Saint-Valentin, tu passes du temps avec ton bien-aimé.
On Valentine's Day, you spend time with your loved one.
Q&A
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
26/12/18
Hi Zehra,
Could you report it in the Help and Support section.
This is a forum for language questions.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
6/06/18
Bonjour Nabeel !
Here both versions are correct :)
Using "l'on" is considered more elegant, as it's an antiquated version of "on", but both are perfectly acceptable.
Here's our partner LawlessFrench's page on the subject:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/pronunciation/euphony/
Bonne journée !
Ron
Kwiziq community member
27/04/17
Meghna
Kwiziq community member
27/04/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
2/05/17
Dragana
Kwiziq community member
5/03/19
you were marked wrong if you used le jour de - rather than le jour de la
I was marked wrong as well - it took me a while to work it out.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/03/17
Dragana
Kwiziq community member
5 March 2019
1 reply
On est sortis à la Saint-Valentin.
Why does sortis have an "s" - I understand that être verbs will agree with subject but this is "on" - I did not think that this was treated at plural "nous"
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
5 March 2019
5/03/19
Hi Dragana,
Yes in this case when ‘on’ refers to several people it will agree as if it was ‘nous’.
Strange but true!