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As I understand, the meaning of this phrase is: we're leaving or we're going away. And yet, some questions remain.

Apparently, on s'en va is a generalization of: on se va de object, where en is a pronoun of an object.

1) What is that object precisely?

Is it the current place, the source of the movement or it's more a situation from where we're going away?

And there is another way to express a similar thing: on'y va which is a generalization of: on va à object.

Here, à object means a destination object, and y is a pronoun for that object (place).

Do natives reckon these two - just the same, i.e. on s'en va and on'y va?

(I personally think they're different as on'y va suggests that we're moving to some known location.)

2) Why se aller is used here?

And is it the only case when aller is used as a reflexive verb?

3) What do you think on saying: on va?

Is it a replacement of the two?

Onkeltem
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    Oh, yeah, right. Thanks! I should have searched the other form of this: "je m'en vais". But let it be here for search engines. – Onkeltem Jan 09 '22 at 12:08
  • The idiom in French is: s'en aller, to go away or to leave [implied: a place] If you want to say in French, "I'm leaving", you say: "Je m'en vais". It's as simple as that. – Lambie Jan 09 '22 at 17:24
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    Thanks @Lambie. Have you btw visited the linked thread? I liked this reply: https://french.stackexchange.com/a/2400/26260 it confirmed my expectations, as from the regular grammar point of view this phrase is build in a little odd way: en is useless here and doesn't refer to anything, and se makes aller reflexive, which is also a non-standard thing (a relic). – Onkeltem Jan 09 '22 at 22:40
  • "The fact that the reflexive pronoun appears is specific to this locution and cannot be understood". Disagree. There is a huge difference between "s'en aller" and "aller". Fyi, in Spanish and Portuguese, the verbs to leave also are reflexive: irse and ir(se) embora. Je m'en vais. "I'm leaving [here]". Je vais à l'école. I go or am going to school. – Lambie Jan 10 '22 at 15:23

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