This guide to whether you should say ‘tu’ or ‘vous’ is our new favourite flowchart
We’re grateful to journalist Marie Le Conte for sharing this guide to whether you should use ‘tu’ or ‘vous’ when talking to someone in French and it’s our new favourite flowchart.
There’s a French man trying to explain the tu/vous thing to someone at the table next to me in the café and I just had to interrupt to show them this, which I’m delighted to say actually helped: pic.twitter.com/dk2lU3O9fr
— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) November 9, 2018
Tres bon!
things that need to be added to this chart:
– the impossible-to-figure-out age at which you switch from using tu with peers & vous with adults to vous with peers as well
– the super posh families where they all use vous with each other, the weirdos
– young baristas/bartenders??— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) November 9, 2018
Thank you. This is SO helpful! When I first arrived in France my default was to use “vous” for fear of causing offence. It caused offence among peers who thought I was being snooty. Sometimes you just can’t win!
— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1) November 9, 2018
I’m now having the opposite – I only ever really speak French to family and close friends so whenever I go back to France I reflexively call people tu and it…doesn’t always go down well
— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) November 9, 2018
My saintly mother-in-law uses tu to me but always vous to her daughter’s husband to indicate a certain froideur. It’s a tad awkward at family dinners.
— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1) November 9, 2018
hahaha, my paternal grandmother uses “tu” with my mum but “vous” with my dad’s new wife, really makes everyone comfortable let me tell you
— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) November 9, 2018
Love the way French people use tu/vous in a passive-aggressive way. We could do with something in English instead of having to rely on frosty politeness and a dirty look
— Catherine Ball (@Catcopywriting) November 9, 2018
We’ve weaponised “sorry”, “interesting” et al. We probably don’t need any more ways to be pissy 🙂
— Andy Armstrong (@AndyArmstrong) November 9, 2018
Southerners have weaponized “bless your heart” enough to where we can’t put it in carry-on luggage.
— root@eruditorum.œrg (@root2702) November 9, 2018
See also: “We’ve met.”
— skelejon 💀 (@whyevernotso) November 10, 2018
This is turning into a whole new thread. Would vous believe it?
This is still one of the best things I’ve seen on Twitter. https://t.co/VudkoFH6Bn
— Rick (@FlipChartRick) November 10, 2018
Sponsored Video
