Quick questions ?

[Pads]

I have been set for my home work the question:

Qu'est-ce qu'on mange ce soir ? Which I know means some thing like What are you going to eat this evening ? as I was told that...... But when I try to translate each word it dosnt make sence [:(] its the qu'on bit I dont understand . Any Ideas

Many Thanks  

[Clair]

Qu'est-ce qu'on mange ce soir ? = What's for diner tonight?

not in the sense of "what are YOU going to eat this evening?" more like "what are WE going to eat tonight?"

[Pads]

So qu'on means for ?

would I then reply : ce soir je mangerai............

or : ce soir nous mangerons

Thanks for the quick reply 

[DerekJ]

Another way to view it is that.....

qu is really que... e removed because it is in front of another vowel... so que in this case equals "that"

"On" can be thought of as "one", "they", "you", "people"... sort of people in general if that makes sense?

So qu'on could be thought of as "that one"

[Panda]

Qu'est-ce qu'on mange ce soir

Directly translated

Qu'est-ce -    qu'on  -   mange  ce soir

What is it  -   that we  - eat   this evening

Qu'on being Que On if seen separately meaning 'that we'

Of course the correct meaning being as Clare says  is 'Whats for dinner this evening' not the word for word translation.

[Panda]

Beat me to it Derek and clearer your way!

[kizpip]

Qu'est-ce que (what is/are) on (one/we) mange (present tense of "eat") ce soir?

ie: What are we eating tonight?

So, keep it simple and leave the reply in the present tense, ie: We're eating . . . (fish & chips please, mmm . . .)

"On mange . . .  ce soir.

[kizpip]

And now a veritable plethora of answers!

Everyone beat me to it - perhaps because it took me so long to work out a clear explanation . . .  Must get the brain in gear![blink]

[Pads]

Many thanks for that

So I would reply with the nous rather than the Je ? oui?

[DerekJ]

You also need to remember that if you reply using On, you don't use the nous form of the verb but the il/elle form.

ie. On mange

[Pads]

Many thanks all of you , got it now [:)]

[Patf]

I think that "on" can be translated as "one", the rather posh impersonal pronoun. So literally "what is it that one eats tonight?"

[samdebretagne]

[quote user="Pads"]

Many thanks for that

So I would reply with the nous rather than the Je ? oui?

[/quote]

Normally, you'd reply with "on", but you could also use "nous".  You wouldn't use "je" because in this case "on" is collective and refers to more than just yourself.

[Pads]

Ok this is my reply to the question , the exercise being that we use the correct de la , du, des, de l' for some

On mange ce soir de la soupe, ensuite, de la viande avec des pommes de terre et des petit pois et carrotes, ensuite du pain du fromage et du fruit, ensuite du cafe. aussi on boit ce soir du vin.

Does this look right? [:)] 

[Clair]

Can I sugest this as an alternative:

Ce soir, on mange de la soupe, de la viande avec des P d T, des PP et de C, puis du fromage avec du pain, et des fruits. On boit du vin et on fini avec un café.

[samdebretagne]

[quote user="Clair"]Can I sugest this as an alternative:

Ce soir, on mange de la soupe, de la viande avec des P d T, des PP et de C, puis du fromage avec du pain, et des fruits. On boit du vin et on fini avec un café.

[/quote]

Just one small correction, which I'm 99.9% sure is just a typo since Clair is a Real Virtual French Person :-) - it should be des carrotes, not de carrotes.

[Pads]

Would you say some peas and some carrots,  or some peas and carrots, like we do ? [:@]

Yes I like puis better than ensuite  Thanks

[DerekJ]

I think you could maybe drop a "suivi par" into it if you wanted...  meaning "followed by".  I think that would be correct?

[Pads]

Thanks derek that would sound better but im only just learning so I dont want my teacher to think Im getting ahead of my self [:)] We are meant to use the words that we have been using in class. The exercise to day was to make sure we used the correct De la , du, des and De l' which I hope I have done ? what do you think about some peas and carrots or some peas and some carrots. How would you put it ?  

[PeterG]

For gawds sake Pads, will you tell me what you are having for dinner tonight. I'm drooling and can't wait to know. I think moh is making chicken.

[Pads]

[:D] but will you be having some peas and carrots with that or some peas and some carrots ?

[Clair]

[quote user="samdebretagne"][quote user="Clair"]Can I sugest this as an alternative:

Ce soir, on mange de la soupe, de la viande avec des P d T, des PP et de C, puis du fromage avec du pain, et des fruits. On boit du vin et on fini avec un café.

[/quote]

Just one small correction, which I'm 99.9% sure is just a typo since Clair is a Real Virtual French Person :-) - it should be des carrotes, not de carrotes.

[/quote]

I did not think of correcting the spelling, but as you seem to want to know, the correct French spelling is carottes.

EDIT: I see what you refer to now. The original suggestion I had typed was "... viande accompagnée de PdT, de PP et de C..." and when I changed it, I forgot to add the last "s" to the article before the carrots...

[Pads]

Thanks Clair

It wasnt the des I am worried about I knew that its weather you say

1 Some peas and some carrots       or

2 Some peas and carrots       ? As we would say it.   

[powerdesal]

Bin the carrots, just have peas, end of problem [:D]

[Clair]

[quote user="Pads"]It wasnt the des I am worried about I knew that its weather you say

1 Some peas and some carrots       or

2 Some peas and carrots       ? As we would say it.   

[/quote]

"quelques PP et quelques C", but that would sound odd in the context of your sentence and the more likely (albeit grammatically inccorrect) phrase would be "un peu de PP et de C"

"des PP et des C"

although, some people do say "des PP et C", as they are sold as such in tins... Sorry[:$]