French has both a formal and informal way of addressing people. This makes asking the simple question "How are you?" slightly more complicated than in English. You need to know which "you" to use:

• tu the informal, which takes the second-person singular verb tense, or

• vous the formal, which also doubles as the second-person plural pronoun, equivalent to "you all".

Tu is used among close friends, family, and people younger than you. Vous is used for strangers - or even acquaintances - and people older than you.

It is very important to use which level of formality to use. It can be very insulting to someone to address them incorrectly.

To learn more about tu, vous and similar words, check out the subject pronouns lesson.