Language/French/Grammar/Marked-use-of-tu

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'Marked' use of tu

Certain social sub-groups have their own internal norms for the use of tu and polite vous. For example, in sports teams, in left-wing political parties, and in trade unions, tu is the generalized form of address.

There are also a number of contexts where the expected use of polite vous between speakers is not met, and the actual pronoun form used is tu. For example, a stranger approaching you in the street and using the tu form, where normally vous is expected, may create the impression of an unwanted degree of intimacy; or it may indicate arrogance or contempt. Other examples of such 'marked' use are: In street altercations, e.g. between motorists. The effect produced is one of insult. Police interrogating suspects use the tu form, but suspects are expected to reciprocate with the vous form. The effect produced is one of domination. As a special case of the use of tu, Protestants have always addressed God with the tu form, but Catholics have only done so since 1967; before that 'He' was addressed with the vous form.

After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: Possessive determiners, Omission of the article, Agreement of the past participle following “être” with the subject of a passive & Adjectives with complements.

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