When to use Tu or Vous in French ?

When should you use Vous or Tu ? This is one of the most subtle and complicated points in the French language. I think you could say that it has more to do with the culture than with the language itself.

Until you have a good feel for it, you can use the following rules of thumb:

When to say Tu ?

• If you are young (say, 24 and younger), use tu with anyone your age and younger, unless the situation is very impersonal (e.g. with a cashier in a shop).

• If you are older than this, use tu with young children (in any situation) and with adolescents and young adults in social situations.

• Use tu on the Internet unless you're trying to be very formal, or you're talking with someone whom you know offlilne and address as vous.

• If you are in school or university, use vous with your teachers, no matter their age.

• If someone who is your social equal (co-worker with the same job, for example) uses tu, you can safely use tu as well. This may not apply to social superiors.

When to use vous ?

• In all other situations, use vous unless the person you're talking to specifically asks you to use tu.

• (May seem obvious, but needs to be included): Always use vous when addressing more than one person. This is a grammatical rule and you will not be understood if you use tu.

Again, these rules are very approximate and everyone will have a different opinion on this, but they should keep you from shocking anyone too badly until you develop your own style.

One last thing regarding the use of Tu or Vous : remember that if your non-Frenchness is obvious from your accent, French people will normally forgive impertinent uses of tu, so don't stress out too much over this.

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