Tu or vous? Manners in French
Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 3 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 5 of the french course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.
Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.
Test 1 · ★ · right ✓
Archie's friend mutters, "Bit much, mate," when Archie says tu to the teacher. Why?
- 1. Tu is a rude word that must never be said to anyone — no support
- 2. Tu is only used in writing, never out loud — no support
- 3. Tu is only for boys, and the teacher is a lady — no support
- 4. Tu sounds too cheeky with a teacher; vous is polite — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 3: «Picture Archie at the school gate saying "Salut, tu vas bien ?" to his French teacher: it sounds as cheeky as calling her "mate".», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «sound» (+2); the same property (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · right ✓
Emma's cousin nearly falls over laughing when she says vous to his dog. Why?
- 1. Vous to a puppy is like bowing to it; pets get tu — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Dogs in Montreal only understand English — no support
- 3. She should have said madame to the dog — no support
- 4. Vous is a rude word that you must never say to dogs in Quebec — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
One kid answers Amir: "Tous les trois ?" ("All three of us?") What does Amir need to learn?
- 1. You must always count people in French first — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Vous is the you for a group, even of friends — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Tu is the you for a group of three or more — no support
- 4. French kids only play in pairs — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · right ✓
Poppy says "s'il te plaît" to the waiter. Her dad says, "Close, but he's not your mate." Which please was right?
- 1. s'il vous plaît — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. s'il vous plaisez — no support
- 3. s'il tu plaît — no support
- 4. s'il te plaît — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · right ✓
Logan thinks "De rien !" is rude, like "nothing for you, kid." What's the truth?
- 1. It's a kind reply: "it was nothing, you're welcome" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. He's right, it means "you get nothing" — no support
- 3. It means "I didn't understand your English, sorry, try again" — no support
- 4. It means "please go away now" — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
Jake goes "Sorry, bruv!" on a bus in Lille. ("Bruv" means mate.) What would a French kid say?
- 1. Bonjour ! — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 2. Merci ! — score 4
- 3. Salut ! — score 4
- 4. Pardon ! — ✓ the right answer · score 4
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1, line 5: «The letter h is never breathed out in French, so when a puffing English kid says "HO-tel" in Nice, the French say "oh-TEL", as if the h were invisible.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+3); the same doer «puffing english kid» (+3). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
Charlotte says, "Why say madame? It sounds dead formal." ("Dead" means very.) What's the truth?
- 1. It is only for the Queen and very important people — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It is rude, because it makes the lady sound old — no support
- 3. In France, bonjour, madame is normal and polite, even for kids — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. It is old-fashioned, nobody in France says it any more, not even grans — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
Theo's gran says, "That's a bit grabby, my lover." ("My lover" is West Country for dear.) What was grabby?
- 1. Saying "s'il vous plaît" twice — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Saying "Je voudrais une crêpe" to the waiter — no support
- 3. Saying "merci" when the crêpe came — no support
- 4. Saying "Je veux une crêpe!" to the waiter — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗
Cooper is lowkey offended when his teacher says "À vos souhaits !" ("Lowkey" means a bit.) What did she mean?
- 1. You are wet — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Be quiet — no support
- 3. Your voice is funny — no support
- 4. Bless you — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗
Grace calls a young woman in a shop mademoiselle and asks, "Was that rude, like?" What's the best advice?
- 1. Use madame for grown-up women; it's always safe — ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 2. Never speak to shop staff at all — no support
- 3. Call every woman ma chérie instead — no support
- 4. Always use mademoiselle for young women, it's the polite rule — ← Mova's choice · score 6
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 5, line 18: «Mademoiselle is an old word for miss; today madame is the safe word for any grown-up woman, and official forms no longer use mademoiselle.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «use» (+2); the same thing acted on «mademoiselle» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · right ✓
★★★ Your best friend AND your teacher are both sneezing. You speak to both together. What do you say?
- 1. À vos souhaits ! — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. À tes souhaits ! — no support
- 3. À ton souhait ! — no support
- 4. Bon appétit ! — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★★ Max writes three sentences. Which one is correct?
- 1. Monsieur, s'il te plaît ! — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Madame, tu veux un café ? — no support
- 3. Maman, tu es fatiguée ? — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Les amis, tu voulez jouer ? — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the use of the pronoun vous?
- 1. It is considered discourteous in all circumstances and must be avoided entirely — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It is employed towards adults not intimately known and towards any group of persons — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. It is employed solely towards animals and young children — no support
- 4. It is employed exclusively among close friends of equal age — no support
Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the expression appropriate when a request is addressed to a waiter.
- 1. Donne-moi... — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Je veux..., s'il te plaît — no support
- 3. Salut, je veux... — no support
- 4. Je voudrais..., s'il vous plaît — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the reply De rien.
- 1. It is a courteous acknowledgement of thanks, signifying "you are welcome" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. It is a refusal, signifying "you shall receive nothing" — no support
- 3. It is a request for repetition of what was said — no support
- 4. It is a greeting employed solely in the evening — no support
Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
It is given that a person has sneezed in the presence of a child, and that the person is an adult not intimately known. Determine the appropriate expression.
- 1. À tes souhaits — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. À vos souhaits — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Bon appétit — no support
- 4. De rien — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/french/5-tu-or-vous-manners-in-french/