Shaq (corrigez-moi 🙏🙏)

[naive granite]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[warm bobcat]

there are social rules to determine when to use "tu" vs "vous":
kids -> tu
friends / strangers in a friendly context (bar, convention...) -> tu
profesional clients -> vous
teacher / boss -> vous
strangers on the internet -> tu
etc

that said, there are cases where it gets blurry. The default in such cases is usually "vous" as it's more polite but you can ask to use "tu" to act more friendly (for instance with your teacher if you're both adults, with your father-in-law...)

[graceful kestrel]

;tu

[naive granite]

https://i.imgur.com/QeO3r3Q.png

[civic monolith]

oh wow this is amazing

i had no idea vous and tu was so

i dont know the words

[strong bay]

There's a bit in there which is meant to show how certain individuals might break the classic "rules", there are a lot of contexts where it's just best to ask or someone might establish which they prefer from the get-go (I've had many older people tell me explicitly to tutoie them upon first speaking to them) or where it might not matter all that much, both could be possible (my landlord switches frequently between tu and vous with me depending on context, which is abnormal but it happens)

[civic monolith]

ahh okay. but with a teacher should i use vous? she uses tu avec moi

[strong bay]

It wouldn't be unusual for a teacher to refer to students with tu but expect vouvoiement back imo, but can vary a lot by region, ages, and individual preference
It's also good to get used to asking, natives ask too when they're unsure

[civic monolith]

ahh okay, looks like i have to get into the habit

[warm bobcat]

the common dynamic is
student uses "vous" towards the teacher
teacher uses "tu" towards the student
it kind of denotes the hierarchy

the student can usually only use "tu" if they're both adults and the teacher is fine with it, if they're friends, or if it's a private teacher / small group. It puts less distance between the two and conveys a more friendly dynamic

(I've had one teacher in my life use "vous" towards his students and it was considered very old school, even by my parents standards, it basically doesn't happen anymore)

[strong bay]

often people liken it to whether or not you could/would refer to the person as "ma'am/sir", which isn't a perfect parallel but can give you an idea

[civic monolith]

ahh okay that makes sense