When do you use tu vs vous in French?

Use tu with one person you know well (friends, family, a partner), with children, and with anyone who says tu to you and invites you to do the same. Use vous with adults you don’t know, with customers and officials at work, and always when you speak to two or more people.

Is vous plural or formal?

Both. Vous is the polite way to speak to one person and the only way to speak to several people, even close friends or your own children: Vous venez, les enfants ?

Do people in Quebec say tu or vous?

People in Québec switch to tu more readily than in France: colleagues, young people and many shopkeepers use it quickly. Still use vous with older people, officials and anyone you meet in a formal setting, and switch when the other person says tu first.

Should I use tu or vous in the TEF Canada speaking test?

Use vous with the examiner and in the formal role-play, the phone call to ask for information. In the task where the examiner plays a friend you try to convince, switch to tu and keep it from start to finish.

What is the difference between tutoyer and vouvoyer?

Tutoyer means saying tu to someone; vouvoyer means saying vous. Once you pick one, every form follows it: tu as, ton, viens, te or vous avez, votre, venez, vous.

Is At the counter free to play?

Yes. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, and levels 7 to 12 are free with an account, which also saves your stars on every device. Levels 13 to 30 come with Premium, together with every 3D game’s later levels and all the mock tests.

Tu vs vous in French: serve every customer the right register

Au comptoir

Tu vs vous, at a café counter in Québec: customers walk in, and you serve each one the cup with the phrase that fits them: a friend, a child, a stranger, two people at once. Right and quick earns a tip; wrong, and the customer frowns while you see the right phrase and why. 30 levels in 5 worlds take you from choosing tu or vous to the forms that follow, formal writing and speaking-test situations.

3 min a round
30 levels
First 6 levels free, no sign-up
Speaking
Writing

3D game: plays full screen on phones.

Loading the 3D game…

30 levels, 5 worlds

From the basics to exam speed

Each level is one round of about 3 minutes. Win a star to open the next level, and replay for three stars. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, levels 7–12 with a free account, and Premium opens all 30.

World 1 · levels 1–6
Friend or stranger
Tu ou vous ?
Pick tu or vous by who walks in: friends, children, strangers, colleagues, two people at once.
· Free, no sign-up
World 2 · levels 7–12
The forms that follow
Les bonnes formes
Keep the choice all the way: tu as / vous avez, ton / votre, viens / venez, te / vous.
· Free account
World 3 · levels 13–18
Casual or polite
Familier ou poli
Whole phrases in the right register: Salut, ça va ? or Bonjour, monsieur, De rien or Je vous en prie.
· Premium
World 4 · levels 19–24
Write it right
À l’écrit
Madame, Monsieur or Salut Julie: the openings, requests and sign-offs of a formal email, and a message to a friend.
· Premium
World 5 · levels 25–30
Exam speed
Rythme d’examen
Speaking-test situations, faster: polite questions on the phone, a friend to convince, and everything mixed.
· Premium

How to play

1Read who is at the counter and what you want to say to them.
2Serve the cup with the right phrase: tap it, flick it up, or press 1–3.
3Right and quick earns a bigger tip. Wrong, and you see the right phrase and why.

What it trains

When to say tu and when to say vous, and everything that follows the choice: verb endings (tu prends / vous prenez), possessives (ton / votre), imperatives (viens / venez), pronouns (je te remercie / je vous remercie), casual and polite phrases, the openings and sign-offs of a formal email, and polite questions for a phone call.

Why it matters for TCF and TEF Canada

The TEF Canada speaking test has a phone call to ask for information, in a formal register, and a role-play where you try to convince a friend, in an informal one. Switching cleanly between vous and tu, and keeping every verb and pronoun in line, is part of sounding natural in both, and a formal email needs vous from the greeting to the sign-off.

Practise speaking in the real format: TCF Canada speaking practice · TEF Canada speaking practice

Learn while you play

Rules and tips to remember

Count the people first
Two or more people always get vous, whoever they are. Vous venez ? to two close friends is perfectly friendly: here vous is simply the plural of tu.
Follow their lead
If someone says tu to you or suggests on peut se tutoyer, answer with tu. With an adult you don’t know, start with vous: it is never rude.
Keep every form in line
Once you choose, the verb, the possessive and the pronouns follow: Tu as ton billet ? but Vous avez votre billet ? A mix like Vous avez ton billet ? sounds wrong straight away.