How to Ask Someone's Name in French: Formal and Informal Ways
Learn to ask for someone's name in French politely, with formal and informal patterns, pronunciation, and a short dialogue.
By LiamCulture & nuance · Yapr Learn
Asking someone's name is one of the first real conversations you will have in French. Choose a question that matches whether you address the other person as vous or tu. If you are unsure in a formal setting, vous is a useful starting point; tu suits an established familiar relationship. This lesson focuses on the name questions and uses a short recorded exchange to help you understand the replies too.
By the end, you can…
- ask someone's name formally using vous.
- ask someone's name informally using tu.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
Comment vous appelez-vous ?
What is your name? (formal)
koh-mahn voo-zah-play-VOO
A name question using vous address and inversion. Use it when you address this person as vous; the relationship and setting matter more than age alone.
Comment est-ce que vous vous appelez ?
What is your name? (formal, less inverted)
koh-mahn ess-kuh voo voo-zah-play
This question uses vous address and avoids inversion. Est-ce que introduces the question. In vous vous appelez, the first vous is the subject (you), and the second is the reflexive pronoun (yourself).
Comment tu t'appelles ?
What is your name? (informal)
koh-mahn tew tah-PELL
A name question for someone you address as tu. In t'appelles, te loses its final vowel before appelles.
Comment t'appelles-tu ?
What is your name? (informal, inverted)
koh-mahn tah-PELL tew
Informal but with inversion. Slightly more literary or careful than Comment tu t'appelles ?. Still uses tu, so only with people you address informally.
Puis-je vous demander votre nom ?
May I ask your name? (very formal)
pweezh voo duh-mahn-DAY vot-ruh nohn
Very polite and somewhat formal. Useful in professional or ceremonial settings. The inverted puis-je is a fixed polite form.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The core pattern is comment + subject + reflexive verb s'appeler. Formally: Comment vous appelez-vous ? or Comment est-ce que vous vous appelez ? Informally: Comment tu t'appelles ? or Comment t'appelles-tu ? The verb s'appeler literally means 'to call oneself', so the question is 'How do you call yourself?' The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject: vous vous appelez, tu t'appelles. For a very polite request, use Puis-je vous demander votre nom ? Note that votre nom means 'your name' and is formal because votre goes with vous.
When to use it
Choose the question for the form of address you use with this person. Tu can mark familiarity; vous is a useful cautious choice at an unfamiliar formal first meeting. Usage varies across relationships and regions, so being a peer or a friend's friend does not by itself require tu. Keep the pronouns and verb together: vous vous appelez or tu t'appelles. Comment vous t'appelles mixes these patterns.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Bonjour, comment vous appelez-vous ?
Hello, what is your name? (formal)bohn-ZHOOR koh-mahn voo-zah-play-VOOJe m'appelle Claire Dubois. Et vous ?
My name is Claire Dubois. And you?zhuh mah-PELL klair dew-BWAH ay vooMoi, c'est Thomas. Enchanté.
Me, I'm Thomas. Nice to meet you.mwah say toh-MAH ahn-shahn-TAYEnchantée.
Nice to meet you.ahn-shahn-TAYA little context goes a long way
Tu and vous depend on the relationship and setting, with regional variation. The Office québécois de la langue française notes that first-meeting tu is more frequent in Quebec than in some other French-speaking settings. This is a tendency, not a rule for every speaker. In the recording, Claire and Thomas use vous. Enchanté and Enchantée have the same pronunciation; the written ending agrees with the person speaking.
One thing to watch for
Comment vous t'appelles ?
Try this instead: Do not mix vous and t'appelles. Use Comment vous appelez-vous ? for formal, or Comment tu t'appelles ? for informal. The reflexive pronoun must match the subject: vous vous appelez, tu t'appelles.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1At a first meeting where you are using vous, ask the other person their name.
Show a sample answer
Comment vous appelez-vous ?
Both this inverted question and Comment est-ce que vous vous appelez ? use vous. The question structure does not change the form of address.
2You and the other person are already using tu. Ask their name with the question that begins Comment tu.
Show a sample answer
Comment tu t'appelles ?
Comment tu t'appelles ? uses tu address. Comment t'appelles-tu ? also uses tu but changes the word order; inversion does not turn tu into vous.
3You want to be very polite and ask, 'May I ask your name?' in French.
Show a sample answer
Puis-je vous demander votre nom ?
This is a very polite formula using the inverted puis-je and the possessive votre. It is more formal than Comment vous appelez-vous ? and works well in official or ceremonial situations.
4Listen to Claire's reply in the dialogue. What does Et vous ? invite Thomas to do? Say Thomas's full recorded reply, then check Claire's final response.
Show a sample answer
Et vous ? asks Thomas to give his name in return. Thomas says: Moi, c'est Thomas. Enchanté. Claire replies: Enchantée.
Replay all four turns. A asks the name, B gives Claire's name and returns the question, A gives Thomas's name and says nice to meet you, and B responds. Cover the text and rehearse A's two recorded lines; then swap roles. The exchange stays with vous address.
Choose a name question that matches tu or vous, then listen for the other person's name and returned question. In this dialogue, Et vous ? invites the next introduction. Rehearse both roles with the recordings before replacing the sample names.
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