On peut s’asseoir sur le banc.

We can sit on the bench.

Breakdown of On peut s’asseoir sur le banc.

• sur: on
• on: we
• pouvoir: can
• le banc: the bench

Questions & Answers about On peut s’asseoir sur le banc.

What does on mean here?

In this sentence, on means something like one, people, or we, depending on context.

So On peut s’asseoir sur le banc can mean:

• One can sit on the bench
• People can sit on the bench
• We can sit on the bench

In everyday French, on is very commonly used instead of nous for we in spoken language.

Why is it peut and not pouvons?

Because the subject is on, and on takes third-person singular verb forms.

So:

• on peut = one/we can
• nous pouvons = we can

Even when on means we, the verb still stays singular:

• On peut partir = We can leave

Why is there an apostrophe in s’asseoir?