Tu vs Vous

The short answer

• Vous for someone you do not know, someone older or more senior, and in professional or formal situations. Vous is also always used when you talk to more than one person.
• Tu for friends, family, children, and people of your age in relaxed situations.

When in doubt, use vous. It is never rude. Using tu too early can be.

When to use vous

• Strangers: in the street, on the phone, in a shop.
• Service situations: a receptionist, a waiter, a pharmacist, a bank employee.
• Hierarchy and age: a manager, a teacher, an older person you do not know well.
• Formal writing: emails, letters, applications.
• Groups: Vous venez, les amis ? (You coming, guys?) Here vous is simply plural.

When to use tu

• Friends and family.
• Children. Adults use tu with children, and children usually use tu with each other.
• People your age in informal settings: classmates, people at a party, often teammates or members of a club.
• Pets.
• When someone invites you to: On peut se tutoyer ? (Shall we use tu?)

At work

It depends on the workplace. Many companies, especially start-ups, technology firms and creative businesses, use tu between colleagues, sometimes even with managers. More traditional sectors (law, banking, administration) often keep vous.

The safe approach: start with vous, and follow what your colleagues do. Usually, the older or more senior person suggests switching to tu.

France vs Quebec

In Quebec, tu is generally more common than in France. You will often hear it between colleagues, and sometimes in shops or service situations that would use vous in France. Even so, vous remains the polite default with strangers and in formal contexts.

How to switch from vous to tu

The verbs are tutoyer (to use tu) and vouvoyer (to use vous):

• On peut se tutoyer, si tu veux / si vous voulez.
• On se tutoie ?
• Tu peux me tutoyer. (You can use tu with me.)

Once you have switched to tu, going back to vous is unusual. It can sound cold, as if something has gone wrong.

Be consistent

Once you have chosen, keep the same form throughout. Everything must match:

Mixing them, as in ✗ Tu pouvez… or ✗ Merci pour votre aide, tu es très gentil !, is a common learner mistake.

Tu or vous in exams

In TEF Canada, TCF Canada and DELF speaking tests, follow the role described in the instructions:

• The examiner as themselves: use vous.
• A role-play with a stranger, a shop, an agency, a landlord or an employer: use vous.
• A role-play with a friend or a family member: use tu.

In writing tests, use tu for a message to a friend, and vous for a forum (addressing all readers), a newspaper, a company or any formal text.

The examiner will not fail you for one slip, but consistent, appropriate use shows that you understand how French works socially.

Practice

Would you use tu or vous?

1. Your new manager on your first day at a Paris bank.
2. Your friend’s six-year-old son.
3. A shop assistant in a clothes store.
4. Two of your friends at the same time.
5. A colleague your age who has just said, « On se tutoie ? »
6. Your dog.
7. The examiner in a TCF Canada speaking test.
8. Your partner’s grandmother, the first time you meet her.

Show the answers

1. vous
2. tu
3. vous
4. vous (plural)
5. tu
6. tu
7. vous
8. vous, unless she invites you to use tu

Frequently asked questions