Owen

[sinful trail]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[lapis locust]

"if you want to put it that way"

[narrow sinew]

The "l'" doesn't really have a lexical meaning. It just sounds weird without it

I'm not a native speaker btw so correct me if I'm wrong

[lapis locust]

You could translate the whole sentence as About ten years ago, i was working for myself, or so you can say

[timber merlin]

thank you

[lapis locust]

you can use both actually, "si on veut" is correct but less formal

[untold spindle]

It's more that « on » used to be a noun and nouns have articles, right? It's become a pronoun now which means the article isn't used but is still written in formal texts to show its noun origines.

[lapis locust]

Some (very) formal sentences even start with "l'on"

L'on dit qu'une sorcière réside dans ces bois

[warm robin]

@timber merlin I feel that the best translation has yet to be touched upon. In English, you can also say 'If you will'.

Let's assume ABC, if you will.
It's that.

I felt like adding this because it might help you remember its meaning going forward.

[lapis locust]

oh right, i forgot about if you will, thanks for correcting me there, it's actually more accurate than my attempts