Greeting Friends — Saluer les amis by Dawn-Michelle Baude, Ph.D.
When you switch the tu and vous in French, you have to change other things in the sentence, too. Tu goes with a singular verb, while vous goes with a plural verb. We discussed the different forms of the verb in Chapter 1 when you learned about conjugation. Well, now you get to see some conjugation in action.
Let's begin by looking at an important verb in French: aller (“to go”). The French version of “go” is just as versatile as the English one. Think of how you use different forms of the word “go.” You've probably heard, “How's it going?”, “Let's go!”, “get going,” “I'll go see,” “keep going” and many others. The French verb aller does all the work of the English “to go,” and more.
When you use aller in a sentence, you have to put the right form of the verb with the correct subject. Here's the conjugation map for the verb aller:
To go: Singular — Aller: Singulier
English |
French |
I go |
je vais |
you go |
tu vas |
he/she/it goes |
il/elle/il va |
To go: Plural — Aller: Pluriel
English |
French |
we go |
nous allons |
you go |
vous allez |
they go |
ils/elles vont |
Go, Go, Go! — Allez, allez, allez!
Now it's time to put the friendly you (tu) and the formal you (vous) with aller to say some French greetings. You can mix and match the questions and replies listed for tu, as well as for vous. But you can't mix the tu and the vous! If someone addresses you as tu in French, you usually call them tu, too!And the same thing for vous.
FUN FACTS Pour s'amuser
When you ask someone how she's doing in English, you really don't expect to hear a lot of detail. Your friends usually answer with one word, like “fine” or “OK.” Questions like “How are you doing?” aren't really designed to get information. They're more conversation-starters than real questions!
The Friendly You — Le “tu” sympa
English |
French |
Hi! How's it going? |
Salut! Ça va? |
Fine |
Ça va |
Good |
Ça va/ça va bien |
How are you doing? |
Comment vas-tu? |
Not bad |
Pas mal |
Not so good |
Pas très bien. |
How about you? |
Et toi? |
Is everything going OK? |
Tout va bien? |
Pretty good |
Pas mal du tout. |
Great |
Ça va très bien! |
The Formal You — Le “vous” formel
Hello Sir/Madame. |
Bonjour Monsieur/Madame. |
How are you? |
Comment allez-vous? |
Very well, thank you. |
Très bien, merci. |
Very well, thank you. |
Tout va très bien, merci. |
How are you? |
Est-ce que vous allez bien? |
Not so bad, thank you. |
Pas trop mal, merci. |
Not so bad at all, thank you. |
Pas mal du tout, merci. |
And you? |
Et vous-même? |
Everything is going well. |
Tout va bien, merci. |
“Hi” or “Hello”? — Salut ou Bonjour?
Greetings are easy to learn in any language because you have to greet people all the time! Anything you have to repeat often you usually learn quickly. Since you've been working so hard on tu and vous in this chapter, it's time to try them out. In each blank, fill in the right question or response:
Comment allez-vous?
Pas mal.
Est-ce que vous allez bien?
Comment vas-tu?
Ça va?
Ça va très bien!
Et vous-même?
