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Talking to others: tu and vous

2^nd person singular vs 2^nd person plural

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Talking to others: tu and vous

For example:

To one person: To more than one person:

tu joues → vous jouez

The following activity will help you to realise that the 'ez' on the verb means something!

When you say ‘you’(vous) to more than one person, use a different verb form from when you say ‘you’(tu) to one person.

tu ne manges pas → vous ne mangez pas

Emma Marsden / Stephen Owen

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		To one person (tu)	To more than one (vous)
1	…… avez un animal?
2	…… as un frère?
3	…… as les cheveux courts?
4	…… avez les cheveux longs.
5	…… mets une chemise?
6	…… mettez un pantalon?
7	…… donnez un cadeau?
8	…… donnes des euros?
9	…… jouez au tennis?
10	…… joues au foot?

Lire

Decide whether each sentence begins with ‘tu’ (talking to one person) or with ‘vous’ (talking to more than one person). Remember that it is the verb ending that tells you this!

Emma Marsden / Stephen Owen

Talking to others: tu and vous

ANSWERS

This reading exercise requires the learner to notice the form of the verb (specifically the –ez of the vous form) as the only means of obtaining the correct answer.��To complete the task, learners can simply work from the board, writing 1-10 in their books, and either ‘tu’ or ‘vous’ for each question, or alternatively, there is an A4 worksheet with questions 1-20.

Frequency

Verb and other vocabulary frequency rankings (1 is the most common word in French): avoir [8]; mettre [27]; donner [46]; jouer [219]; animal [1002]; frère [1043]; cheveux [2296]; chemise [3892]; pantalon [4670]; cadeau [2298]; euro [1753]; tennis [3857]; foot(ball) [2602]; long [202]; court [545].

Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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		To one person (tu)	To more than one (vous)
11	……regardes un film?
12	……écoutez la radio?
13	……étudies le français?
14	…… mangez un fruit?
15	……chantes bien!
16	……étudiez les maths?
17	……écoutes de la musique?
18	……chantez souvent?
19	……regardez la télé?
20	…… manges du poisson?

Lire

Decide whether each sentence begins with ‘tu’ (talking to one person) or with ‘vous’ (talking to more than one person). Remember that it is the verb ending that tells you this!

Emma Marsden / Stephen Owen

Talking to others: tu and vous

ANSWERS

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Dans la salle de classe (A)

Listen. Decide when the teacher must be talking to several pupils (vous…) or just one pupil (tu…). �Write 1-10 and ‘vous’ or ‘tu’ in your exercise book for each one. The lesson buzzer stops you hearing the whole message, so your only clue is the verb ending.

Écouter

vous

tu

vous

tu

vous

tu

1

2

3

4

5

6

10

7

8

9

When you hear 'ez' you know it is 'plural you'

Emma Marsden / Stephen Owen

ANSWERS

vous

tu

vous

tu

vous

tu

vous

This exercise requires the learner to listen for the verb form to determine whether one person is being addressed, or more than one person. This slide features declarative (affirmative) sentences; the next slide features negative sentences. Transcript and frequency data are below.

Transcript

The start of each sentence is missing.

Decide whether each sentence starts with “Tu…” OR “Vous…”.

…regardez le problème. [EACH SENTENCE REPEATED AFTER 1 SECOND PAUSE]

…restes en silence.

…ouvres le livre.

…écrivez sur le tableau?

…me donnez le chewing-gum.

…parles en anglais.

…dessinez très bien.

…manges dans la salle de classe.

…écoutez l'histoire?

…copiez?

Frequency

Verb frequency rankings (1 is the most common word in French): regarder [425]; rester [100]; ouvrir [257]; écrire [382]; donner [46]; parler [106]; dessiner [2086]; manger [1338]; écouter [429]; copier [4637].

Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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Dans la salle de classe (B)

Listen again. The teacher is telling one or several pupils what they are not doing. Is he talking to talking to several pupils (vous…) or just one pupil (tu…)? Write‘vous ne’ or ‘tu ne’for each one.�The lesson buzzer still stops you hearing everything, so listen carefully for the verb ending.

Écouter

vous

tu

vous

tu

vous

tu

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

When you hear 'ez' you know it is 'plural you'

Emma Marsden / Stephen Owen

vous

tu

vous

tu

vous

tu

ANSWERS