Tu or Vous?

In English there is only one way of saying you. In French, there are two second-person subject pronouns: tu and vous. The word you choose depends on:

whether you are talking to one person or more than one person
whether you are talking to a friend or family member, or someone else

The difference in meaning between these two words is very important. You must understand when and why to use each of them. Otherwise, you may inadvertently insult someone by using the wrong you.

_{There are two ways to say you?!}

If you are talking to one person you know well, such as a friend, a young person or a relative, use tu.

Par exemple:

Salut mec! Est-ce que tu vas à la fête d’Estelle?
- Hey man, are you going to Estelle’s party?

If you are talking to one person you do not know so well, such as your teacher, your boss, or a stranger, use vous. Vous is used as a sign of respect to authority figures and older people.

Par exemple:

Bonjour Monsieur Martin, comment allez-vous?
- Hello, Mr. Martin, how are you doing?

If you are talking to more than one person, you must use vous, no matter how well you know the people.

Par exemple:

Vous avez vos cahiers, les étudiants?
- Do you have your notebooks, students?

If you want to know if it’s ok to use tu, you can just ask: On peut se tutoyer? which means “Can we use tu with each other?” To answer, you can say: On peut se tutoyer or Tu peux me tutoyer.

Sorry, that is not correct. Your cousin is the correct answer.

Correct!

Questions answered correctly:

Questions answered incorrectly:

How many ways can you say you?

Conversation

Par exemple:

Par exemple:

Par exemple:

With whom would you NOT use vous?

Summary