Tu or Vous? Getting French Formality Right in West African Business

French has two words for "you": tu and vous. When doing business in Côte d'Ivoire (in West Africa, French-speaking, the world's largest cocoa producer) and other French-speaking West African countries, choosing the wrong one will not ruin a deal, but it can make you seem too casual or too distant. A few basic principles will help you avoid most awkward moments.

The basic division between tu and vous

Put simply, vous signals politeness and hierarchy; tu signals closeness and informality.

Historically, vous was long the dominant form of address in French society and only began to loosen at the end of the 18th century; in recent years tu has become increasingly common among younger generations. But "increasingly common" does not mean "accepted by everyone" — some people keep using vous even with neighbours they know well, as a form of courtesy.

When in doubt, always start with vous. At worst, vous makes you seem a little formal; using tu too early can offend older or more traditional people.

Who proposes the switch?

The switch to tu is usually proposed by the older or more senior person, or by the host. Common ways to say it include:

• On peut se tutoyer ? (Shall we use tu with each other?)
• Tu peux me tutoyer. (You can call me tu.)
• Voulez-vous qu'on se tutoie ? (A more formal way to ask)

Bear in mind that forms of address are not always reciprocal. There are situations where one side uses tu and the other vous — a teacher with a pupil, for example — and being addressed as tu does not necessarily mean you can reply with tu. For formal occasions where protocol matters, the Office québécois de la langue française even suggests waiting until around the fourth meeting before considering the switch. In short: if in doubt, stay with vous and wait for the other person to raise it.

So when an older client or a senior executive speaks to you using tu, the safer course is to keep using vous until they explicitly invite you to change.

There is no single standard of French

Habits vary across French-speaking regions. In Quebec, Canada, for instance, using tu at a first meeting is far more common than in other French-speaking regions, where it might be considered overly familiar. This is a reminder that the "feel" you picked up in France or Quebec does not necessarily carry over to West Africa.

In Côte d'Ivoire, respect for elders is an important foundation of social life: for example, you should not give orders to elders and should remain deferential. Applied to language, keeping vous with older and more senior people is the choice least likely to go wrong. On the other hand, in French-speaking workplaces and associations it is also common for peers to use tu naturally with each other, as a sign of equality and belonging. If a counterpart of your own age quickly starts using tu with you, simply follow their lead.

Once you switch, your sentences change too

Tu and vous take different verb forms, and mixing them up is very noticeable:

• With tu: Tu vas bien ? / Tu peux m'envoyer le contrat ?
• With vous: Comment allez-vous ? / Pourriez-vous m'envoyer le contrat ?

If some members of your team are not yet comfortable in French, have them practise with vous sentence patterns throughout: these work in any formal setting and are the least likely to cost you points.

One line for Asian teams

Start with vous and let the other person decide when to close the distance — which is actually quite close to the etiquette Asian workplaces expect towards elders and superiors.

---

References: OQLF (Office québécois de la langue française): Contextes d'emploi du vouvoiement et du tutoiement; Connexion France: Understanding when tu vs vous can cause offence; SBS: When to use "tu" or "vous"; DLIFLC (Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center): French-Côte d'Ivoire Cultural Orientation (2016)