Question 1

Why are there two vous words in vous appelez-vous?

Accepted Answer

The verb for giving your name is s'appeler, which literally means 'to call oneself'. To say 'you call yourself', you need both the subject pronoun 'you' (vous) and the reflexive pronoun 'yourself' (also vous). In a formal question, the subject and verb trade places, so the reflexive vous comes first, then the verb, and finally the subject vous.

Question 2

Why is there a hyphen in appelez-vous?

Accepted Answer

In formal French questions, you can swap the order of the verb and the subject pronoun to make it a question. This grammar trick is called inversion. Whenever you do this, you must connect the verb and the subject pronoun with a hyphen.

Question 3

Since we are talking to one person (Monsieur), why are we using the plural vous?

Accepted Answer

Vous isn't just for the plural 'you' (more than one person). It is also the formal, polite way to say 'you' to a single person. Since the speaker is politely addressing a man as Monsieur (Sir), they use the formal vous instead of the informal tu.

Question 4

Why does the sentence use comment ('how') instead of a word for 'what'?

Accepted Answer

Because French uses the verb s'appeler ('to call oneself') for names, you aren't actually asking 'What is your name?'. Instead, you are literally asking 'How do you call yourself?'. This is why the question word is comment (how).

Bonjour Monsieur, comment vous appelez-vous ?

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