Je demande : « Comment vous appelez-vous ? »

Because s’appeler is a pronominal (reflexive) verb: s’appeler = to be called / literally something like to call oneself.

So the sentence contains:

• vous = the subject, you
• appelez = call
• vous = the reflexive pronoun, matching the subject vous

That is why you get vous appelez-vous.

A similar pattern happens with other reflexive verbs:

• Vous vous levez. = You get up.
• Vous vous souvenez. = You remember.

In an inverted question, the second vous moves after the verb:

• statement-like order: Vous vous appelez...
• inverted question: Appelez-vous... ?

So Comment vous appelez-vous ? keeps both parts, but one vous is the subject and the other is reflexive.

The base form is s’appeler.

It is usually listed with the reflexive pronoun:

• s’appeler = to be called

In this sentence, it is conjugated for vous:

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

In the question Comment vous appelez-vous ?, the verb form is still vous appelez, just with inversion.

The hyphen appears because this is inversion, a common formal way to form questions in French.

Normal order:

• Vous vous appelez comment ?

Inverted order:

• Comment vous appelez-vous ?

When the subject pronoun comes after the verb in an inverted question, French connects them with a hyphen:

• Avez-vous... ?
• Êtes-vous... ?
• Appelez-vous... ?

So the hyphen is not optional here; it is part of the standard spelling of inversion.

The spelling comes from the conjugation of appeler.

For vous, the form is:

• vous appelez

This verb has a spelling change in some forms:

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

So:

• nous and vous use one l
• some other forms use double ll

That is why the sentence has appelez-vous, not appellez-vous.

It can mean either:

• one person, in a formal/polite way
• more than one person, in a plural way

So Comment vous appelez-vous ? can mean:

• What is your name? to one person, politely
• What are your names? to several people

Without context, both are possible.

Yes, but it sounds fairly formal or careful.

Common options are:

• Comment vous appelez-vous ?
  Formal, standard, polite

• Comment tu t’appelles ?
  Informal, for one person you use tu with

• Vous vous appelez comment ?
  Very common in spoken French; less formal than inversion

A native speaker might often prefer the spoken-style version in everyday conversation, but Comment vous appelez-vous ? is completely correct and very standard.

Comment is the question word meaning how in form, but in this expression it is used idiomatically to ask what someone is called.

So French says:

• Comment vous appelez-vous ?

rather than copying English word-for-word.

This is just the normal French pattern with s’appeler:

• Comment tu t’appelles ?
• Comment s’appelle-t-il ?

So even if English asks What is your name?, French often asks the equivalent of How are you called?

Je demande : means I ask: and it introduces the exact words of the question that follows.

So the structure is:

• Je demande :
• Comment vous appelez-vous ?

This is like saying:

• I ask: What is your name?

The colon shows that the next part is the direct speech or exact question.

Yes. If you turn it into an indirect question, the structure changes.

Direct question:

• Je demande : Comment vous appelez-vous ?

Indirect question:

• Je demande comment vous vous appelez.

Notice two important changes:

1. there is no inversion in the indirect version
2. the reflexive pronoun stays before the verb: vous vous appelez

This is a very common point for learners:

• direct question: Appelez-vous... ?
• indirect question: vous vous appelez

French often uses guillemets:

• « ... »

These are the standard French quotation marks, instead of English-style “...”.

In modern texts, you may also see other styles depending on typography, but « ... » is the classic French standard.

Both can contribute, but in different ways.

• vous makes it polite/formal if you are speaking to one person respectfully
• inversion makes the question sound more formal or written

So:

• Comment tu t’appelles ? = informal
• Vous vous appelez comment ? = polite, but conversational
• Comment vous appelez-vous ? = polite and more formal in style

A careful pronunciation would be approximately:

• comment → sounds like koh-mahn
• vous → voo
• appelez → ah-peh-lay
• vous → voo

A rough guide:

• koh-mahn voo ah-peh-lay voo

A useful thing to notice is that the final -ent in comment is not pronounced as a full t sound in normal speech. Also, appelez ends with an ay sound.

Grammatically, yes, it is built like call yourself, but in real usage you should understand it as be called or have the name.

So learners should know both levels:

• literal structure: you call yourself what?
• natural meaning: what is your name?

French often uses structures that do not match English word-for-word, so it is best to learn s’appeler as the normal verb for asking or saying someone’s name.