French has two different words for you: tu and vous. In English, the second person subject pronoun is always you, no matter how many people you're talking to, and whether you know them or not. In French, these distinctions are very important - you must understand when and why to use each of them. Otherwise, you may inadvertantly insult someone by using the wrong you.
Tu is the familiar you, which demonstrates a certain closeness and informality. Use tu when speaking to one
- friend
- peer / colleague
- relative
- child
- pet
- someone you don't know well
- an older person
- an authority figure
- anyone to whom you wish to show respect
Because the tu / vous distinction doesn't exist in English, beginning French students often have trouble with it. Some people follow the guideline of using whatever the other person uses with them. This can be misleading: someone in authority may use tu with you, but that certainly doesn't mean that you can respond in kind. You can try asking On peut se tutoyer ?, but when in doubt, I tend to use vous. I'd rather show someone too much respect than not enough!
*There are even verbs to indicate which pronoun you're using:
tutoyer = to use tu
vouvoyer = to use vous
Quiz on tu vs vous
