might become more commonplace in the future; just as cultural changes, idiomatic expressions and slang phrases emerge over the centuries.
Language can evolve, but vous will probably stick around in the future.
Rules to consider for speaking formal French
Here are some important rules you must consider with formal French.
1. Tu vs vous - when should you use these pronouns?
I’ve mentioned that native French speakers use tu with people they know and vous with people they don’t know.
There are some other reasons that you should use vous and not tu.
- Use vous if you’re in a professional environment with colleagues or writing an email to your boss
- Use vous if you’re speaking to a stranger on the street
- Use vous when you’re speaking or writing to a person who is older than you
- Use vous to show respect to someone
And here are the situations where you can use tu:
- Use tu when writing or speaking to close friends, siblings, and family members
- Use tu when speaking or writing to a partner, husband, or wife
- Use tu when writing or speaking to someone younger than you
- Use tu in informal chats (such as when texting a friend)
If you’ve already learned these rules in your French course, don’t forget to revise them.
2. Using ne for formal, negative sentences
There’s a difference between negating sentences in formal French situations and negation in sentences in informal cases.
When negating a sentence in formal contexts, use ne before the verb, but when you negate a sentence in informal contexts, you can omit the word ne as a more casual way of speaking.
Consider the difference between saying
Vous n’êtes pas heureux aujourd’hui
Tu es pas heureux aujourd’hui
These examples mean “you are not happy today,” but in the first formal sentence, you can see the word ne - in the second informal sentence, the speaker doesn’t need to use ne.
Keep in mind my first rule as well.
The other difference between these two sentences is that vous is used in the formal and tu in the informal sentences.
The bottom line is that in formal situations, such as business conferences, always use ne when negating a sentence.
3. Using the conditional when making requests
When you’re in formal French situations, such as a business conference or a lunch with your colleagues, you may need to remember this rule for making requests.
Use the conditional tense when you need to ask for something.
This rule is similar to the English rule, where you sometimes say, “may I have…” or “could I have…”
Pourrais-je avoir la facture, s’il vous plaît ?
Pourrais-je avoir de l’eau, s’il vous plaît ?
Remember that using the conditional tense is better than using the present simple in formal French situations.
Avoid saying puis-je avoir la facture, s’il vous plaît ? or puis-je avoir de l’eau, s’il vous plaît ?
4. Using polite sign-off phrases in written communication, such as emails
When communicating with colleagues in writing, you should consider a few select phrases that you can use to close an email.
Some examples of these phrases include:
- Sincèrement - “sincerely”
- Meilleures salutations - “best regards”
- Salutations distinguées - “sincerely”
- Merci par avance - “thanks in advance”
5. Using formal phrases in written communication
There are also a few phrases you can use in the body of your email to explain why you are writing or ask questions.
Some examples of such sentences include:
Je m’adresse à vous pour…
Je vous remercie pour votre e-mail…
6. Learning how cela is different from ça in formal French
You may have encountered the pronouns cela and ça when studying French.
To give you a small recap, both of these pronouns can replace the word “it,” but one is ideal for formal or professional situations, and you should use the other one for informal situations.
When you’re in formal situations, use cela. When you’re in informal situations, use ça.
Keep in mind that you can use them interchangeably, and your sentence will still make sense.
However, to master formal French, remember to use cela in formal circumstances.
7. Note the inversion for interrogatives or questions 