starting sentence with "qu'on..."

i've seen this before. Is it only used formally? (i think this was culled from the canadian parliament). would it be pretentious to use in conversation?

Qu'on me permette d'ouvrir ici une parenthèse.

I would like to digress a moment, if I may.

merci d'avance

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on July 20, 2016 at 9:09am

Yes ,I think it might be a bit grandiose :)

But you might find the odd occasion.....

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Permalink Reply by Stevo on July 20, 2016 at 6:00pm

Hi Alan, hi George.

Regarding “qu'on” in a sentence opening, it's right and wrong to consider it like grandiose.

There are similar usages in the common language. Here an example ( That I am going to write isn't my opinion. It's only to show a real usage. French people like alot to talk about policy. ;-) )

“Qu'on le veuille ou non, les sujets de la politique sont des sujets qui fâchent, qu'on soit de droite ou de gauche. Et qu'on ne soit pas d'accord avec moi n'a pas d'importance puisqu'on n'a pas forcément les mêmes choix de vie. Qu'on me le dise, pourquoi pas ! Mais qu'on me laisse tranquille avec ça...”

[ “Whether we want it or not, political subjects are subjects who vex, whether we are close to the “droite” party or the “gauche” party. And that everybody isn't agree with me has no importance as we aren't forced to share same choices life. If anyone wants to say me it, why not ! But that everyone leaves me in peace about this...” ]

In addition, it's also possible to write “que l'on” instead of “qu'on”. “qu'on” is absolutely correct according to the grammar rule, but the usage concerning his twin is very common in French.

For memory : The French political context is separated by two trends who are called “la gauche” and “la droite”.