"vous" and "tu"

[Krimson]

In french we have the pronoun "tu", which is used mostly when you address someone  a personal level and the pronoun "vous" which is formal. A lot of younger folks (well younger than me) are using the "tu" form when addressing me but what is really surprising is that older or same aged (is that a word?) folks as me, who used to "vous" me , now "tu" me . I know it's a language thing, but do you see a kind of kinship with the younger generation. Of course, i'm mainly asking the older baldheads on the forum.

[LAGLE]

÷ لاثمهثرث ÷ شة قثشيهىل فاهس صشغ خز0ز

Hm I believe if I am understadning this correctly, it's like our sir/maam? I'm young and I try to be respectful and say sir/maam

[Krimson]

÷ لاثمهثرث ÷ شة قثشيهىل فاهس صشغ خز0ز

Hm I believe if I am understadning this correctly, it's like our sir/maam? I'm young and I try to be respectful and say sir/maam

yes, it's a good comparaison, but it's more like the spanish "uste"

My heart is with you guys

[Mike]

Almost like in Russian how there is the formal versions of words that you use for adults then informal ones for friends/young people. Like instead of zdravstvootye for hello you say zdravstvoi. Since I know language other than english it makes sense to me

[JasonSandeman]

To me, (an anglophone that learned French by immersion in the culture,) Vous is akin to addressing someone as sir or ma'am, instead of just "you." There isn't really a translation, but that's the closest I can get. The weird part is I know people who are just starting to date who use the term Vous still. Mind you - they are French from France. Here in QC it is common to always hear Tu.

[Slynito]

en espa~ole... tu = informal ... Usted = formal

[zzaapp]

In English, we have one word, "you", whether we are addressing one person or a group of people (except down south where its "you" singular, and "y'all" plural ).

In high school French class, we were taught, in conjugation of verbs, that "tu" was the singular form and "vous" was the plural or more inclusive form.  In other words, the difference between "tu as" ("you have") and "vous avez" ("you have") would be similar to the difference between "j'ai" ("I have") and "nous avons" ("we have").

Have I been misinformed all these years?

[JasonSandeman]

You are right in the case of a plural. You could use "Vous" and it's the same as saying "you" as a group.

The thing is, when you use "Vous" with a singular person, it's like distancing yourself from them, being more formal. We do have something like it in English by adding the pronoun "sir." That's why some people get uneasy when you use the word "sir." it's informal.

In the same token, in French (at least here in Quebec,) people will ask you to use "tu" when you are friends with them. I'm not sure about other countries though.

[TheSlyBear]

I grew up among Canadian French-speaking relatives, and can attest that there are a lot more nuances about the use of tu and vous than pluralization.

[Blitzed]

As has been noted, virtually every language save English permits specific words between the formal and the informal. Growing up and speaking Afrikaans, I wasn't even aware there was the possibility of the informal and as the other languages in our home were English and Xhosa-neither of which distinguish-it wasn't until I learned French, Spanish etc. that the informal existed. To this day, people find me a bit stiff in that I do use the formal although at 70 I could easily address others in a more familiar voice. However, in this age of the too casual, I'm more comfortable being less informal. Too often we hear people introduced as, "Tom, meet Harry" All well and good but unless Tom and Harry take the time to re-introduce themselves with last names and other pertinent information, there's was a one time meeting. If one is in business this sort of lackadaisical speech could be disastrous, particularly if Tom wanted Harry to purchase something or contribute in some way to their industry. When I've lectured I've had students decide that it was quite alright to address me by my given name. It was not alright and I've stopped my lecture to make that point. This was especially true when I was a paid, guest, expert and not some person they saw everyday about the campus who may have encouraged a certain familiarity.

[Ravenangel]

In Hungarian, the difference does exist and it is in everyday use.
This always made me feel embarrassed, I did not really like - for example in shops and offices - being adressed formally - by someone who was the same old as me. Even more embarrassing when an elderly person uses the informal form, but - due to his/her age - it would be impolite to speak to them in the informal way.
(Okay, there are a few exceptions where I can understand that it is acceptable to use the formal way - at school - especially high school, college, university - or in the army.)

In Norwegian, the difference does exist but it is not used. Good for me, I never have to think whether it is polite to use du-formen or not. :}