On se retrouve sur la place après le travail.

In everyday French, on very often means we.

So in this sentence, on se retrouve means we’ll meet up or we’re meeting up, not one meets up.

A few useful points:

• on is extremely common in spoken French
• it is more natural and less formal than nous in conversation
• even when it means we, the verb stays in the third-person singular

So:

• On se retrouve = We’re meeting up
• Nous nous retrouvons = also We’re meeting up, but less conversational

The verb here is se retrouver, which often means:

• to meet up
• to find each other again
• to get back together at a place

It is reflexive because the people involved are doing the action with respect to each other/themselves.

Compare:

• retrouver quelqu’un = to find someone again / meet someone again
• se retrouver = to meet up / find yourselves together again

So On se retrouve sur la place is a very natural way to say We’ll meet up in the square.

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

So:

• on retrouve
• on se retrouve

not:

• on retrouvons

Even though on can mean we, grammatically it still behaves like he/she/it for verb agreement.

Yes. French often uses the present tense to talk about a planned or near-future action, especially in everyday speech.

So On se retrouve sur la place après le travail can mean:

• We’re meeting up in the square after work
• We’ll meet up in the square after work

If you want to make the future more explicit, you could say:

• On se retrouvera sur la place après le travail

Both are correct. The present tense version sounds very natural for arrangements.

Not really. In this sentence, la place usually means the square or the plaza, especially a town square or open public square.

So here:

• la place = the square

It does not usually mean the very general English word place.

For example:

• sur la place = in/on the square
• la place du village = the village square

Because sur la place is the normal way to say in/on the square when talking about being in that open public space.

Here, sur does not literally mean standing on top of something. It is just the idiomatic preposition used with many open areas or surfaces in French.

Be careful, because à la place usually means something very different:

• à la place de... = instead of... / in place of...

So:

• sur la place = in the square
• à la place de Paul = instead of Paul

French often uses the definite article where English does not.

So:

• après le travail = after work
• literally: after the work

This is very common in French with general activities and routines.

You will often see things like:

• avant le dîner = before dinner
• après le déjeuner = after lunch
• pendant la journée = during the day

Even though English often drops the article, French usually keeps it.

Here, le travail most naturally means work in the sense of your workday or your time at work.

So après le travail means:

• after work
• after the workday
• when work is finished

Depending on context, travail can refer to:

• work in general
• a job
• a task
• labor

But in this sentence, the meaning is clearly the routine time expression after work.

It is very natural and everyday.

Using on instead of nous makes it sound conversational and typical of spoken French. It is perfectly normal in speech and informal writing.

A more formal or more written version would be:

• Nous nous retrouvons sur la place après le travail.
• Nous nous retrouverons sur la place après le travail.

But the original sentence is probably what many native speakers would say in real life.

Yes, depending on context, it can sound like a suggestion or arrangement.

French often uses the present tense for agreed plans, so On se retrouve... can imply:

• We’re meeting up...
• We’ll meet up...
• Let’s meet up...

If two people are deciding a plan, this sentence can function very naturally as a suggestion.

It would be:

• Nous nous retrouvons sur la place après le travail.

Notice that with nous, you need nous twice:

• the subject pronoun: nous
• the reflexive pronoun: nous

So:

• On se retrouve
• Nous nous retrouvons

This is a very common pattern with reflexive verbs.