On fouille dans le stand puis on va chez l’antiquaire.

Here, on means we.

In everyday French, on very often replaces nous in spoken language. So:

• On fouille... = We rummage/search...
• On va... = We go...

More generally, on can also mean one, people, or you in a general sense, but in this sentence it is most naturally understood as we.

Because on takes third-person singular verb forms, even when it means we.

So you get:

• on fouille, not on fouillons
• on va, not on allons

This is one of the first things English speakers need to get used to: on may mean we, but grammatically it behaves like he/she/it.

Fouille is the verb fouiller in the present tense.

In this context, fouiller means something like:

• to rummage
• to dig through
• to search through

It often suggests looking through objects to find something interesting, not just briefly glancing.

So on fouille dans le stand gives the idea of browsing through or rummaging around among the things at the stall.

Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same.

• fouiller dans le stand = to rummage/search through what is in the stall
• fouiller le stand = to search the stall itself

Using dans emphasizes going through the contents, objects, or items there.

This is a very common pattern in French:

• fouiller dans un sac = rummage in a bag
• fouiller dans ses poches = search through one’s pockets

So here, dans makes the action feel more like browsing through things.

It is a borrowed word, but in French un stand usually means a booth, stall, or display stand, especially at:

• a market
• a fair
• an exhibition
• a trade show

In this sentence, it most likely means a stall or booth with items for sale.

Also, it is masculine:

• le stand

Puis means then, after that, or next.

So the sentence is showing a sequence:

1. On fouille dans le stand
2. puis
3. on va chez l’antiquaire

Compared with et, puis is more clearly sequential. It tells you that one action happens after the other.

French also has other words like:

• ensuite = next, afterwards
• et puis = and then

Puis is slightly neater and a bit more written-sounding than et puis, but it is completely normal.

Because chez is used when you mean at the home/business/place of a person.

So:

• chez le médecin = at the doctor’s
• chez le boulanger = at the baker’s
• chez l’antiquaire = at the antique dealer’s

French uses chez with people and professionals when you mean their place.

So on va chez l’antiquaire means we go to the antique dealer’s place/shop.

Using à l’antiquaire would not sound natural here.

Literally, antiquaire means the person: an antique dealer.

But with chez, French often refers to the place belonging to or associated with that person. So:

• chez l’antiquaire = at the antique dealer’s shop/place

This is similar to English expressions like:

• at the baker’s
• at the dentist’s

So the noun itself is the person, but the whole phrase refers to going to that person’s business.

Because before a vowel sound, French uses l’ instead of le or la.

Since antiquaire begins with a vowel, the article becomes:

• l’antiquaire

This happens with many nouns:

• l’ami
• l’école
• l’hôtel

So l’ is simply the normal contracted form before a vowel.

Yes, it is in the present tense:

• on fouille
• on va

French often uses the present tense to describe:

• habitual actions
• a sequence in a story
• instructions or itinerary-like steps
• actions happening now

So depending on context, this could mean something like:

• We rummage through the stall, then we go to the antique dealer’s
• First we rummage through the stall, then we go to the antique dealer’s

The present tense works very naturally for this kind of sequence in French.

Yes. A more formal or written version could be:

• Nous fouillons dans le stand puis nous allons chez l’antiquaire.

That is grammatically correct, but it sounds more formal and less conversational.

In everyday French, native speakers would very often prefer on:

• On fouille... puis on va...

So if you are learning natural spoken French, on is the form you will hear a lot.