Tu vs. vous — informal and formal "you"
CEFR A1
French has two words for "you", and choosing the right one matters.
- tu — one person you know well: a friend, a family member, a child, another student.
- vous — one person you don't know well or want to show respect to (a stranger, a teacher, someone older), or more than one person, no matter how well you know them.
Examples:
- To a new friend: "Tu es d'où ?" (Where are you from?)
- To a teacher: "Vous êtes professeur ?" (Are you a teacher?)
- To two friends together: "Vous êtes prêts ?" (Are you [both] ready?)
- Meeting someone at work for the first time: "Comment vous appelez-vous ?" (What is your name?)
When in doubt, use vous — it is always polite. Wait for the other person to say "On peut se tutoyer" (We can use "tu") before switching to tu.
Knowing the rule is not the same as producing it.
This page explains the pattern. The track drills it: the point arrives inside a mini-dialogue, then production marked against a CEFR descriptor, then a module test that returns you to your two weakest sessions if you miss it.