Tu peux être fier de toi.

Tu is the informal singular word for you. It is used with friends, family, children, and people you know well.

Vous is used:

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

So Tu peux être fier de toi is informal and addressed to one person.
The formal version would be Vous pouvez être fier de vous.

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

Present tense of pouvoir:

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

So tu peux means you can.

After a conjugated modal verb like pouvoir, French usually uses an infinitive.

So:

• tu peux être = you can be

Not:

• tu peux es ❌

This is similar to English:

• you can be not
• you can are

Fier means proud.

Yes, it changes depending on the gender and number of the person being described:

• masculine singular: fier
• feminine singular: fière
• masculine plural: fiers
• feminine plural: fières

So if you are speaking to:

• one man or boy: Tu peux être fier de toi
• one woman or girl: Tu peux être fière de toi

The adjective agrees with the person who is proud.

In French, fier is followed by de when you say what someone is proud of.

So:

• fier de toi = proud of yourself
• fier de son travail = proud of one’s work
• fier de ses enfants = proud of one’s children

French requires the preposition de here, even though English uses of.

After a preposition such as de, French uses a stressed pronoun, not a subject pronoun.

So:

• subject pronoun: tu
• stressed pronoun: toi

That is why it is:

• de toi ✅ not
• de tu ❌

Other examples:

• avec toi = with you
• pour toi = for you
• sans toi = without you

Not in the same way as a reflexive verb like se laver.

Here, toi refers back to the same person as tu, so in meaning it is like yourself, but grammatically this sentence is not built with a reflexive verb. It is simply:

• tu = subject
• peux être = can be
• fier de toi = proud of yourself

So it is more accurate to think of toi here as the pronoun used after de, referring back to the subject.

Yes, depending on context.

Tu peux can express:

• ability/possibility: You can
• permission: You may

In many real situations, Tu peux être fier de toi often sounds like encouragement or reassurance, such as:

• You can be proud of yourself
• You should feel proud of yourself

The exact nuance depends on tone and context.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ty pø ɛtʁ fjɛʁ də twa

A rough English-friendly version:

• tu ≈ tyu but with a French u
• peux ≈ like puh with rounded lips, or peu
• être ≈ eh-tr
• fier ≈ fyair
• de ≈ duh or very light de
• toi ≈ twah

A few helpful notes:

• peux and peut sound the same
• the r in être and fier is the French r
• in normal speech, de is often very light

Usually, no major liaison is made in careful standard speech here.

You might hear:

• Tu peux être... without liaison between peux and être

French liaisons depend on the words involved and on how formal or careful the speech is. For a learner, the safest pronunciation is simply to say each word clearly:

• Tu peux être fier de toi

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Tu peux être fier de toi = You can be proud of yourself
• Tu dois être fier de toi = You must be proud of yourself or You should be proud of yourself

Tu dois être fier de toi often sounds stronger and more direct.
Tu peux être fier de toi can sound a little gentler or more reassuring.

Use vous instead of tu, and change the verb and pronoun accordingly:

• Vous pouvez être fier de vous
  or, if speaking to a woman:
• Vous pouvez être fière de vous

Here:

• pouvez is the vous form of pouvoir
• vous after de is the stressed/object form used with the preposition

You would change fier to fière:

• Tu peux être fière de toi

The rest of the sentence stays the same.
The adjective must agree with the person being described, not with the speaker.

Yes, but it adds emphasis.

• Tu peux être fier de toi = normal and natural
• Tu peux être fier de toi-même = You can be proud of yourself yourself / of yourself personally

Toi-même is more emphatic. In many everyday cases, plain de toi is enough and sounds more natural.

The structure is:

• Tu = subject
• peux = conjugated verb
• être = infinitive
• fier = adjective
• de toi = prepositional phrase linked to fier

So literally it works like:

You + can + be + proud + of yourself

This is a very common French pattern:

• subject + modal verb + infinitive + adjective/complement

For example:

• Tu peux être content de toi
• Tu peux être satisfait de ton travail