tu vs vous
tu or vous
By Fabling Editorial · How we design our guides
tu or vous
tu is one person you know well. vous is polite singular, or any plural you. The verb ending changes: tu parles, vous parlez.
Examples in context
Read the examples and compare their English meanings.
Informal Singular
Tu addresses one person you are familiar with.
Tu veux un café, Paul ?
Would you like a coffee, Paul?
Formal Singular
Vous can address one person politely.
Madame, vous cherchez la gare ?
Madam, are you looking for the station?
Plural You
Vous also addresses more than one person.
Vous venez tous les deux ?
Are both of you coming?
Common mix-ups
Vous is a useful polite default when addressing an adult stranger, though conventions vary by region and social setting. Tu is not universally ungrammatical here.
Hello, Madam. Are you well?
Try a reply
Say or write your answer in French before opening the example.
Ask a shopkeeper you do not know: Do you have bread? Use polite vous.
Show one possible answer
Vous avez du pain ?
Other wording can work too. Compare the verb form, agreement, and word order with the lesson. Then try a sentence about your own day.
Keep practicing
Related grammar
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