Comment vous appelez-vous ?

Because the verb is s’appeler, a reflexive verb.

In this sentence, the two vous have different jobs:

• the first vous is the reflexive pronoun: you call yourself
• the second vous is the subject pronoun: you

So the structure is basically:

• vous appelez-vous = do you call yourself

This may feel strange in English, but it is normal in French with reflexive verbs.

The verb is s’appeler, which means to be called or literally to call oneself.

Its basic pattern is:

• je m’appelle
• tu t’appelles
• il/elle s’appelle
• nous nous appelons
• vous vous appelez
• ils/elles s’appellent

French uses this reflexive structure when asking or saying someone’s name:

• Je m’appelle Marie.
• Comment vous appelez-vous ?

English does not usually say What do you call yourself? in everyday speech, but French does.

The hyphens show inversion, which is a common way to form questions in French.

Normal word order:

• Vous vous appelez Marie. = You are called Marie.

Question with inversion:

• Vous appelez-vous Marie ?
• Comment vous appelez-vous ?

In inversion, the subject pronoun is placed after the verb and joined with a hyphen:

• appelez-vous

This is especially common in more formal written and spoken French.

Yes, it is fairly formal or at least careful/correct French.

You will also hear more everyday versions such as:

• Comment vous appelez-vous ? — formal/careful
• Comment vous appelez ? — heard in speech, less formal, but less standard
• Vous vous appelez comment ? — common in conversation
• Comment tu t’appelles ? — informal singular
• Tu t’appelles comment ? — very common informal spoken French

So the sentence you were given is absolutely correct, but it is not the only way people ask this in real life.

Use vous when speaking to:

• one person in a formal situation
• someone you do not know well
• someone older or in a position where formality is expected
• more than one person

Use tu when speaking to:

• one friend
• a child
• a family member
• someone you are on informal terms with

So:

• Comment vous appelez-vous ? = formal singular or plural
• Comment tu t’appelles ? = informal singular

Because the subject is vous, and the vous form of appeler in the present tense is appelez.

Present tense:

• j’appelle
• tu appelles
• il/elle appelle
• nous appelons
• vous appelez
• ils/elles appellent

So in Comment vous appelez-vous ?, the verb has to match vous, which gives appelez.

Comment means how in general, but in this expression it is used idiomatically to ask someone’s name.

So French says:

• Comment vous appelez-vous ?

Literally, this is closer to:

• How do you call yourself?

But idiomatically it means:

• What is your name?

This is just the normal French way to ask that question.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• koh-mahn voo zah-play voo

A few useful points:

• comment ends with a nasal sound, so the final n is not pronounced like a full English n
• in vous appelez, the s in vous links to the vowel in appelez, creating a z sound: voo-zah-play
• the final -ez in appelez sounds like ay

So the flow is roughly:

• Comment vous appelez-vous ?
• koh-mahn voo-zah-play voo ?

Yes. In everyday spoken French, many people prefer:

• Vous vous appelez comment ? — polite but conversational
• Tu t’appelles comment ? — informal and very common

The version with inversion, Comment vous appelez-vous ?, sounds more formal, more careful, and sometimes more textbook-like.

So if you want to sound natural in conversation, the non-inverted versions are very useful to learn too.

Yes, but it is not used in exactly the same way.

• Comment vous appelez-vous ? = normal way to ask someone’s name
• Quel est votre nom ? = What is your name?, but often sounds more formal, official, or direct

You might hear Quel est votre nom ?:

• on forms
• in official situations
• in police, medical, or administrative contexts

In everyday conversation, Comment vous appelez-vous ? or Vous vous appelez comment ? is usually more natural.

The normal answer is:

• Je m’appelle + name

For example:

• Je m’appelle Claire.
• Je m’appelle David.

You can also answer more casually with just your name in some situations, but Je m’appelle ... is the standard full answer.

This happens because French often drops a vowel before another vowel sound.

For example:

• je me appelle becomes je m’appelle
• tu te appelles becomes tu t’appelles

This is called elision.

So:

• Je m’appelle
• Tu t’appelles
• Il s’appelle

But in vous vous appelez, there is no apostrophe because vous already ends in a vowel sound and does not contract that way.