Tu peux entrer maintenant.

Tu is the singular, informal way to say you in French. You use it with:

• friends
• family
• children
• people you know well
• someone you would normally address casually

Vous is used for:

• one person in a formal situation
• more than one person

So Tu peux entrer maintenant is informal and directed to one person.
If you were speaking formally to one person, you would say:

Vous pouvez entrer maintenant.

Peux is the tu form of the verb pouvoir, which means can / to be able to.

The verb changes depending on the subject:

• je peux = I can
• tu peux = you can
• il/elle/on peut = he/she/one can
• nous pouvons = we can
• vous pouvez = you can
• ils/elles peuvent = they can

So tu peux means you can.

In French, after a conjugated modal verb like pouvoir (can), the next verb usually stays in the infinitive without any extra word like English to.

So:

• Tu peux entrer = you can enter
• Je veux partir = I want to leave
• Nous devons attendre = we must wait

English often uses to after some verbs, but French does not always do the same. After pouvoir, you simply use the infinitive directly: entrer.

Entrer means to enter or to come in / go in, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means:

• come in
• enter

For example, if someone is standing outside a room and you allow them in, Tu peux entrer maintenant would usually be understood as You can come in now.

Maintenant means now. In French, adverbs like this are often placed after the main verb phrase.

So:

• Tu peux entrer maintenant. = You can come in now.

This word order is very natural in French.

You can sometimes move maintenant for emphasis, but the most neutral version is the one given.

It usually means permission here: You may come in now or You can come in now.

French pouvoir can express both:

• ability: being able to do something
• permission: being allowed to do something

In this sentence, context strongly suggests permission. For example, someone was waiting outside and is now allowed to enter.

Sometimes, but it is not exactly the same.

• entrer = to enter, to come in
• rentrer = to go back in, come back in, return home, or re-enter depending on context

If you are simply telling someone they may come into a room, entrer is the normal choice.

Rentrer would suggest more of an idea of going back in or returning in some contexts.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ty pø ɑ̃-tre mɛ̃t-nɑ̃

A few helpful notes:

• tu sounds like ty, with a French u sound that does not exist exactly in English
• peux sounds roughly like puh but with rounded lips
• entrer begins with a nasal vowel in en
• maintenant has nasal vowels too, especially at the end

In natural speech, French speakers may link words smoothly, but there is no mandatory liaison here between peux and entrer.

Yes. The easiest way is to switch from tu to vous:

Vous pouvez entrer maintenant.

That is the polite version for one person, and also the version used when speaking to several people.

You could also soften the tone with phrases like:

• Vous pouvez entrer maintenant, s’il vous plaît.
• Vous pouvez entrer.

But whether it sounds polite mostly depends on tu vs vous, tone of voice, and context.

Yes. A few common ways are:

• Tu peux entrer maintenant ? = Can you come in now?
• Est-ce que tu peux entrer maintenant ? = Can you come in now?
• Peux-tu entrer maintenant ? = Can you come in now?

These all mean roughly the same thing, but they differ in style:

• Tu peux entrer maintenant ? is very common in everyday speech
• Est-ce que... is clear and neutral
• Peux-tu... ? is more formal or written

Yes: the x in peux is part of the spelling, even though it is not pronounced like an English x.

Compare:

• je peux
• tu peux

But:

• il peut

So the tu and je forms are spelled peux, while il/elle/on is peut.

This is just part of the conjugation of pouvoir, which is an irregular verb.

Yes.

• Tu peux entrer. = You can come in.
• Tu peux entrer maintenant. = You can come in now.

Adding maintenant makes the timing explicit. It often implies that the person could not enter before, but now they are allowed to.