Thread: ты/вы vs. tu/vous

How closely, regarding formality in address to a single person, does the use of ты and вы tie to the use of tu and vous in French? As a foreign learner of Russian, shouldn't I pretty much always be using вы, at least till I make some good friends. Also, does the use of ты/вы in any way tie in, roughly, with the use of just a first name vs. first name plus patronymic?

Thanks

When you are to use ты it can be for close friends, family, children that are younger than you, etc. People you are framiliar with, or that are younger than you.

For вы it is for formal adress. For your boss, if you are in school, your teacher, your mother's friend(if you are a child), people you are not as framilar with.

Sorry, I can't relate to your french because I don't know it.

Ты/вы corresponds pretty much the same to usage of tu/vous in French. With adults you don't know you use вы/vous, with your friends, family, or children you use tu. I don't know about French, but it seems pretty standard to use ты with people you don't know on the net regardless of age.

About French imperfectif/passe compose(pardon my lack of accents aigus) and Russian несовершенный/совершенный вид, that would require a seperate thread entirely, although I think we discussed it earlier

Hi Texas Mark, I think the use of these pronouns is very similar in French and Russian. The rules of politeness and familiarity of the pronouns are about the same, I guess.
You're right, on the french-speaking internet, many people who would use "vous" in daily life while speaking to an unknown person, use "tu" in the internet for their first contact with an unknown person.
In french-speaking Quebec in Canada, the use of "tu" is much more frequent.

Something i noticed, in Russian : if you say "you're right", adressing to a single person, you have to say "vy pravy", with the adjective as a plural.

Anyway, the russian "ty' and "vy" is very useful to get used to the pronounciation of this famous vowel, as its sound has no equivalent in French and I think in english. The first tries are really challenging, but it's also a good opportunity to put a smile on your russian friend's faces

Paka !

If you are talking to someone you are framiliar with, family member, school mate or such, we don't say "вы правы." If it were a girl- Ты права. If it were a boy- Ты прав. Though if it were someone "higher" than you, for respect you would use the formal вы and say "вы правы." Or if you were talking to a few people, kids, or adults, you would say it pluralized too. Yes, "ы" has no english equvilent.

Yes, Evguenia, "vy pravy"

I badly and not precisely enough formulated what I wanted to express, so it was a good idea from you to make it clear.

Please, accept my formal gratefulness

Stephane, newbie in russian, english, forums and even in his own language

I know French pretty well and I'm just staring to learn Russian, but I would expect they are close. In most languages people use a formal "you" and an "informal" you. =)