Romance languages, of which French is one, make a distinction between saying ‘you’ formally (and often plurally) and informally. This isn’t something we have in English, where essentially we use the formal ‘you’ (‘thou’ having been the informal).
In French, the informal is represented by ‘tu’ and the formal and plural by ‘vous’. However, it is difficult to know when to use which one.
The general rule is that you use ‘tu’ with those you know well, and ‘vous’ with those you don’t. However, the rules aren’t always clear cut. There are some people, particularly amongst younger people, who switch to ‘tu’ at the first possible opportunity, oftentimes without ever passing through ‘vous’. This is particularly the case if you have friends in common.
‘Vous’ is used for people that you don’t know well, or you know only in a professional setting. If you walk into a café to have a coffee, you use ‘vous’ when you order. If you talk to a director or associate of a company, you will almost always use ‘vous’.
Even this isn’t clear cut though. In my company, pretty much everyone uses ‘tu’. Our company is made up of young people (the average age is around 30) and the founders made a point of it being a comfortable place to work. When I first started, I consistently used ‘vous’, but was quickly told ‘Non, on tutoie ici‘. You have to go with the flow.
If you’re unsure which pronoun to use with someone, start with ‘vous’. If the other person starts to use ‘tu’, you can assume you can follow. If you try to use ‘tu’ before the other person, you can end up looking like an over-eager puppy!
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