Questions & Answers about Bonjour Monsieur, comment allez-vous ?
Why does the sentence use allez (to go) instead of the verb for "to be"?
In English, we ask how someone is, but in French, you ask how someone is going. French uses the verb aller (to go) to talk about health and well-being. So, comment allez-vous ? literally means "how go you?". Why are the verb and pronoun flipped to allez-vous with a hyphen?
This is a formal way to ask a question in French, known as inversion. To show politeness or formality, you swap the normal order of vous allez (you go) to allez-vous (go you?), and always connect them with a hyphen. Why are we using vous here instead of the casual "you" (tu)?
Because the speaker is addressing a Monsieur (Sir). This tells us the situation is polite or formal. When speaking to a stranger, an authority figure, or someone older, you must use the formal "you", which is vous. Why do I hear a "t" sound between comment and allez when this is spoken aloud?
Normally, the "t" at the end of comment is completely silent. However, because the next word (allez) starts with a vowel, the "t" is pronounced to link the two words together smoothly. This is called a liaison, making the phrase sound like "koh-mahn-tah-lay-voo". Learn Bonjour Monsieur, comment allez-vous and more in French
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