Learn French: On n'aperçoit guère les virgules dans la marge. - One barely perceives the commas in the margin.

On n'aperçoit guère les virgules dans la marge.

One barely perceives the commas in the margin.

Breakdown of On n'aperçoit guère les virgules dans la marge.

one / we (informal)

dans

in, inside

not (used before the verb)

guère

hardly

Questions & Answers about On n'aperçoit guère les virgules dans la marge.

Why is there no pas in this sentence?

Guère is a negative word meaning "hardly" or "barely". Just like jamais or plus, it pairs with ne and completely replaces pas. Here, the verb is sandwiched to form n'aperçoit guère.

Is ne... guère common in everyday spoken French?

Not really. It is a slightly literary term mostly used in written or formal French. In casual conversation, someone would be much more likely to express "barely" by saying On voit à peine or On ne voit presque pas.

Why does aperçoit have a cedilla (ç) here?

The infinitive is apercevoir. Because the stem ends in a c (pronounced as a soft s sound), it needs a cedilla when followed by the letter o or u to prevent it from being pronounced with a hard k sound. Compare on aperçoit (cedilla needed) to on apercevait (no cedilla needed before the e).

Does on mean "we" in this context?

While on often replaces nous (we) in everyday spoken French, in a formal sentence like this one, it acts as the general "one" or "people in general". Translating it as "One barely perceives..." or "You can barely see..." captures this general observation perfectly.