Learn Hardcore French: Peux-tu couper la musique, s'il te plaît ?

Inversion (more formal / standard)
- Peux-tu couper la musique ?
- Verb + hyphen + subject pronoun
- This is grammatically “clean” and often used in writing, formal speech, or when you want to sound a bit more careful.
Rising intonation (informal, very common in speech)
- Tu peux couper la musique ?
- Literally the same word order as a statement, but with a questioning intonation.
- Very common in casual spoken French.
Est-ce que structure (neutral, very common)
- Est-ce que tu peux couper la musique ?

So peux-tu is just the inverted question form of tu peux. Both mean the same; the main difference is formality and style, not meaning.

What is the difference between Peux-tu couper la musique ? and Tu peux couper la musique ?

Both basically mean “Can you turn off the music?” but:

Peux-tu couper la musique ?
- Uses inversion.
- Sounds a bit more formal, careful, or textbook-like.
- Common in written French, announcements, careful speech.
Tu peux couper la musique ?
- Same words as a statement, but with rising intonation.
- Very common in everyday spoken French.
- Feels more casual and natural among friends and family.

In practice, with tu, you will probably hear Tu peux couper la musique ? more often than Peux-tu couper la musique ? in normal conversation.

Can I also say Est-ce que tu peux couper la musique ?? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can, and the meaning doesn’t really change.

Est-ce que tu peux couper la musique ?
- This is a very common, neutral way to form a question.
- It’s neither very formal nor very informal.
- Often the easiest pattern for learners:
  Est-ce que + subject + verb + … ?

In terms of meaning and politeness, it’s roughly the same as Peux-tu couper la musique ?; it just uses a different question structure.

Why is there a hyphen in peux-tu?

In French, when you form a question using inversion with a subject pronoun, you:

Put the verb first.
Attach the subject pronoun after it with a hyphen.

So:

Tu peux… (statement)
→ Peux-tu… ? (inverted question)

Other examples:

Il vient. → Vient-il ?
Vous voulez… → Voulez-vous… ?

When the verb ends in a vowel and the pronoun starts with a vowel (il, elle, on), a -t- is inserted for pronunciation:

Il peut… → Peut-il ?
Elle aime… → Aime-t-elle ?

Why is the verb peux and not peut or something else?

Peux is the present tense form of pouvoir for je and tu.

Present tense of pouvoir (to be able / can):

je peux
tu peux
il / elle / on peut
nous pouvons
vous pouvez
ils / elles peuvent

Since the subject is tu, you must use peux:

Tu peux… → Peux-tu… ?

Why is couper used here? I thought couper meant “to cut”.

Literally, couper does mean “to cut”, but in context it can also mean “cut off / stop / turn off” certain things, especially:

couper la musique → turn off / stop the music
couper le son → cut the sound / mute
couper le moteur → switch off the engine
couper le chauffage→ turn off the heating

Other common verbs you might also hear:

éteindre la musique – to turn off the music (like turning off a light or device)
arrêter la musique – to stop the music
baisser la musique – to turn the music down (lower the volume)

So couper la musique is natural, especially in colloquial speech, and focuses on cutting it off (often abruptly).

Why is it la musique and not just musique without an article?

French almost always needs an article before a noun. Here, la is the definite article (the).

la musique → the music

In this sentence, both speaker and listener know what music they’re talking about (the music currently playing), so French uses the definite article la.

Compare:

J’aime la musique. → I like music (as a general concept)
(French still uses la here.)
Il y a de la musique. → There is (some) music.
(de la = partitive article, “some”.)
Coupe la musique. → Turn off the music (that is on).

So in this context, la musique is specific and known, hence la.

Is musique always feminine?

Yes. Musique is a feminine noun:

la musique – the music
une musique – a (piece of) music
de la musique – (some) music
ma musique – my music

There is no rule that lets you deduce its gender from its form; you just learn it as la musique.

What does s’il te plaît literally mean, and why is it written with an apostrophe?

S’il te plaît is the familiar way to say “please” to someone you address as tu.

Literally, it comes from:

si il te plaît → if it pleases you

In actual French, si il contracts to s’il:

si + il → s’il (to avoid the vowel clash i i)

So you get:

s’il te plaît → if it pleases you → please

The apostrophe marks the elision of the vowel i from si.

What is the difference between s’il te plaît and s’il vous plaît?

Both mean “please”, but they differ in formality and number:

s’il te plaît
- te → informal you (singular, tu)
- Used with friends, family, children, peers.
s’il vous plaît
- vous can be:
  - formal you (singular)
  - or plural you (formal or informal)
- Used with strangers, in polite situations, with groups, in service contexts (shops, restaurants, etc.).

In parallel, you would typically match:

Peux-tu… s’il te plaît ? (to a friend)
Pouvez-vous… s’il vous plaît ? (to a stranger / group / formally)

Can I move s’il te plaît to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Both orders are correct:

Peux-tu couper la musique, s’il te plaît ?
S’il te plaît, peux-tu couper la musique ?

The meaning and politeness are essentially the same. Putting s’il te plaît at the beginning can sound slightly more insistent or more “begging” in some contexts, but in everyday conversation they’re interchangeable.

Is Peux-tu… ? closer to English “Can you…?” or “Could you…?”

Grammatically, peux-tu is present tense, so it corresponds most directly to “Can you…?”

However, French doesn’t have the same can / could politeness contrast as English. Politeness depends more on:

Using pouvoir instead of a direct imperative (Coupe la musique.)
Tone of voice
Adding s’il te plaît / s’il vous plaît

So:

Peux-tu couper la musique, s’il te plaît ? can correspond to “Could you turn off the music, please?” in English in terms of politeness, even though it literally looks like “Can you…”

Could I just say Coupe la musique ! instead? How does that sound?

Yes, grammatically you can, but the tone changes:

Coupe la musique !
- Imperative (a direct command).
- Sounds more like an order: “Turn off the music!”
- Depending on tone, it can be neutral (“Turn the music off now, we’re starting class”), or quite abrupt / bossy.
Peux-tu couper la musique, s’il te plaît ?
- Question with pouvoir
  - s’il te plaît.
- Feels more polite and less direct: “Can you turn off the music, please?”

In everyday friendly conversation, using Tu peux… ? or Peux-tu… s’il te plaît ? is generally more polite and softer than a bare imperative.