Knowing how to make a polite request in French is one of the first things taught in tourist guidebooks. In this lesson, we will dig a little deeper and explore the many ways of asking for something in a variety of situations, whether it be shopping, asking for directions, eating out, and more. Through our video examples, we will also discover the cultural niceties and etiquette that help smooth out such interactions.

As is customary in most countries, in France it is considered good form to greet the person you come into contact with. As the speaker in this video reminds us, it is important to toujours dire bonjour (always say hello):

Ah, ben oui... La politesse, la courtoisie, toujours dire bonjour, garder le sourire.

Oh, well yes... Politeness, courtesy, always say hello, keep smiling.

Caption 3, Télésonne Micro-trottoir : Comment manifester sa gentillesse?

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So don’t skip the bonjour part even when passing through the checkout line or buying a baguette at the bakery, for example:

Bonjour, je voudrais une baguette et deux croissants, s’il vous plaît.

Hi, I’d like a baguette and two croissants, please.

When on the phone, it is possible to substitute allô (hello) for bonjour, maybe to sound more friendly. Listen to Lionel making a trip reservation in this video. He starts with bonjour and then uses the conditional structure je voudrais (I would like to) + infinitive. (See our previous lesson on the conditional tense here.)

Oui, bonjour! Euh... je voudrais, euh, faire un voyage au Parc Astérix.

Yes, hello! Uh... I would like, uh, to take a trip to Parc Astérix [Astérix Park].

Caption 2, Réservation d'un voyage au Parc Astérix

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When asking for directions, instead of using the ubiquitous bonjour, you may want to catch the person’s attention first with the polite formula: Pardon, monsieur/madame, excusez-moi (Sorry, sir/madam, excuse me). Of course, it does not hurt to say s’il vous plaît (please) as well:

Pardon monsieur, excusez-moi. Place Vendôme, s’il vous plaît ?

Sorry sir, excuse me. Place Vendôme [Vendôme Square], please? 

In the example above, you will notice that the speaker is using formal language, with the verb in the second-person plural in the imperative mood (excusez-moi) and the formal vous in s’il vous plaît (literally, "if you please"). It is much simpler in English, as there is only one way of saying “you,” unless you want to sound Shakespearian!

When addressing a friend, you may drop the formal tone of your request and switch to the second-person singular of the verb by leaving out the Z at the end: excusez-moi —> excuse-moi (excuse me), like the shy chef does in this video. In an awkward and apologetic sort of way, he tries to sound casual and uses the personal pronoun te (you) to address his employee, whom he is about to ask out on a first date:

Excuse-moi... Je suis un peu gêné de te demander ça mais...

Excuse me... I'm a bit embarrassed to ask you this but...

Caption 51, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils - Part 3

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Further along in the video, the shy chef eventually plucks up the courage to ask his employee for a drink. First, he softens his request by using the imperfect tense, je voulais te demander (I wanted to ask you). Then, being ever so polite, he reformulates his question and asks her si tu serais d’accord pour qu’on aille (if she would agree to go for a drink together). Note how he manages to use two different verbal moods here, the conditional and the subjunctive, plus the imperfect tense!

Ce que je voulais te demander c'est... si tu serais éventuellement d'accord pour qu'on aille boire un verre ensemble?

What I wanted to ask you is... if you would possibly agree to go for a drink together?

Captions 57-59, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils - Part 3

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Thankfully, not every request needs to sound as complicated as the one above. In informal situations, you can simply say peux-tu (can you) and use the present tense for a slightly more direct approach:

Peux-tu m'appeler?

Can you call me?

Caption 33, Conversations au parc Ep. 1: Je n'ai pas mon téléphone

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Here is another example of a more direct approach. In the cartoon series Les Zooriginaux, Loupia asks Gigi the giraffe to ouvre-moi (open up for me) during a curfew. Here we have the imperative mood, since it is a command rather than a request, followed by the informal form of "please," s’il te plaît. (Refer to this lesson for info on pronoun placement with the imperative mood.)

Ouvre-moi vite s'il te plaît

Open up for me quickly, please

Caption 26, Les zooriginaux The Zoo Book - Part 3

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And if you're in need of help, this little phrase could come in handy: aide-moi (help me).

Et sauve-moi encore, aide-moi

And save me again, help me

Caption 2, Normandie TV Indochine au Zénith de Caen

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Or, in its plural/formal version:

Et sauvez-moi encore, aidez-moi

And save me again, help me

In a critical situation, you can ask for help this way:

Au secours! À l'aide! À l'aide!

Help! Help! Help!

Caption 24, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 25. Technologies - Part 3

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There is yet another way to ask for help, or anything else for that matter: with the impersonal phrase il faut que tu (you have to) + subjunctive. Remember to use tu (you) if you are talking to a friend:

Il faut que tu m'aides, je crois.

You have to help me, I think.

Caption 5, Anna et Louis Le vocabulaire des jeunes

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In a more formal situation such as asking your boss to help you, or when you're addressing more than one person, use vous. And don't forget that il faut que (you have to) is always followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood.

Il faut que vous m’aidiez, je crois.

You have to help me, I think.

Moving on to a totally different context, such as ordering food or drinks, for example, things are a lot simpler. You can just order a drink or food by saying je vais (vous) prendre. This is how Johanna orders her beer. Note that she uses the formal pronoun vous when speaking to the waiter:

Euh... je vais vous prendre une bière, s'il vous plaît.

Uh... I'll take a beer from you, please.

Caption 19, Joanna Son quartier

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Or you may prefer the simpler version: 

Je vais prendre une bière, s'il vous plaît.

I'll take a beer, please.

And for yet a more basic approach, you can just name your drink, and you will still get your beer…as long as you say s’il vous plaît!

Une bière, s'il vous plaît.

A beer, please.

In conclusion, making a polite request in French is not that different from English, but knowing when and how to use formal and informal language, which is an integral part of French etiquette, can be challenging. So be aware that your choice of words, tenses, moods, and pronouns will affect the tone of your message. This makes for complicated grammar choices at times, but feel free to explore our grammar lessons and videos to help you. Thank you for reading!

Let's talk about…everything! Or, the word tout in French. Did you know that tout can change spelling and pronunciation? And are you aware that this versatile word can function as an adjective, an adverb, a pronoun, and a noun? In this lesson, we'll focus on tout (all) as an adjective in the constructions tout + noun versus tout + determiner + noun.

Tout as a quantifier is usually equivalent to “all,” expressing totality, as in tout le temps (all the time). The construction is usually as follows: tout + determiner + a noun (a determiner is a short word preceding a noun, such as “the” in English). Tout (all) then functions as an adjective since it is attached to a noun, and it will therefore agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. So, tout has four different endings: tout, toute, toutes, tous. When tout agrees with a masculine singular noun, you're in luck: no change is required! In the example below, tout agrees with the noun votre argent (your money):

Vous donnez tout votre argent à Gérard.

You're giving all your money to Gérard.

Caption 69, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes parents se préparent à la fin du monde - Part 7

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When tout modifies a masculine plural noun, just drop the -t ending and replace it with an -s (tous), as in tous les petits commerces (all the little shops). Note that tout and tous sound the same, as the final -t and -s are both silent:

Ce qui est intéressant aussi dans la rue, c'est que tous les petits commerces sont des artisans français.

What's also interesting on the street is that all the little shops are French craftworkers.

Captions 32-34, Adrien Rue des Martyrs

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When tout modifies a feminine noun, add an -e for agreement. Note that this time, however, you do pronounce the second t! Listen for the t sound in toute la journée (all day) in the following video. Also note that we don’t say “all the day” in English, but we do in French!

Il a plu toute la journée.

It rained all day.

Caption 22, Ahlam et Timothé Des conversations basiques

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When tout agrees with a feminine plural noun, add -es to the end: toutes. As in the previous example, you will pronounce the second t, but not the final s. In other words, toute (feminine singular) and toutes (feminine plural) sound the same. In the example below, toutes agrees with the feminine plural noun les heures (hours). In this case, though, toutes les heures translates as “every hour,” not “all hours”:

Depuis que le nouveau curé a remis ses cloches à sonner toutes les heures

Since the new priest reset his bells to ring every hour

Caption 62, Actu Vingtième Le vide-grenier

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So far, so good, but watch what happens when we decide to omit the les. Just as in English, the meaning changes. In the clause below, the bell doesn’t necessarily ring on the hour, but “at all hours":

Depuis que le nouveau curé a remis ses cloches à sonner à toute heure

Since the new priest reset his bells to ring at all hours

In other words, when tout is used in the sense of “any” or “whichever," you drop the determiner and get the construction tout + noun. The person in the video below expects to be exposed à tout moment (at any moment): 

Mais elle reste obnubilée par son larcin de la veille et s'attend à tout moment à être démasquée.

But she remains obsessed with her petty theft of the day before and expects at any moment to be unmasked.

Captions 47-49, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils - Part 3

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There is one more thing to consider. Even in the absence of determiners, agreement rules still apply! In the example below, we have three different spellings: agreements with a masculine plural noun (tous biens), a masculine singular noun (tout don), and a feminine singular noun (toute personne). Also note how the translation of tout varies according to the noun that follows it:

Tous biens... tout don est bienvenu, ainsi que toute personne.

All goods... every donation is welcome, as well as every person.

Caption 43, Actus Quartier Repair Café

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The use of tout can also imply diversity and inclusiveness, as in de toute religion (from all religions):

Y a de toute religion, y a des musulmans, y a de tout de chez nous.

There're people from all religions, there are Muslims, there's a bit of everything in our club.

Caption 14, Actu Vingtième Le vide-grenier

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Speaking of “all kinds," we have the expression toutes sortes (all kinds/all sorts):

Toutes sortes de décors... et une belle vaisselle.

All kinds of decorations... and beautiful dishes.

Caption 10, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas

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The construction tout + noun can also imply “any” possibility of something. In the video below, the pastry chef talks about being proactive by polishing the cutlery to avoid any potential marks:

Il faudra bien penser à les nettoyer, les polir correctement, pour éviter toute trace, parce que c'est plus joli, c'est plus sympa.

You really have to think about cleaning them, polishing them correctly, to avoid any marks, because it's prettier, it's nicer.

Captions 15-16, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas

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If the speaker had found des traces (some marks) on the cutlery, he would have had the staff remove toutes les traces (all the marks) and say something like this:

Nettoyez toutes les traces afin qu’il n’en reste plus.

Clean all the marks so there are none left.

In conclusion, a few reminders. Include a determiner to convey quantity, entirety, or diversity, as in tout le (all the) and tous les (every). But drop the determiner when tout is used in the sense of “any," “whichever,” or “all kinds." Whether you use the construction tout + determiner + noun or tout + noun, agreement rules apply in both cases. And don't forget: toutes les vidéos sur Yabla (all the Yabla videos) are available to help you. And since tout is such a common word, you'll find it in just about any video (toute vidéo). We will continue to explore tout in another lesson. Merci pour tout! (Thanks for everything!)

At the end of our last lesson, we introduced the question ça te dit (or ça vous dit), which literally means "does it say/speak to you," but is mostly used as an informal way of proposing something to someone. It's more or less equivalent to the English phrase "what do you say":

Du coup, je propose un apéro ce soir chez moi, dix-neuf heures.

So I propose an aperitif tonight at my place, seven p.m.

Ça vous dit?

What do you say?

Caption 62, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

But ça te dit can be translated a number of other ways too, depending on its position in the sentence: 

Alors, ça te dit?

So, are you interested?

Caption 68, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils

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Ça te dit qu'on aille boire un thé?

How would you like to go have some tea?

Caption 5, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mes grands-parents sont infidèles

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At the beginning of a sentence, ça te dit can precede either que or de. But be careful: the phrase ça te dit que requires the subjunctive, as you can see in the example above (qu'on aille). Ça te dit de, on the other hand, simply takes the infinitive:

Ça te dit d'aller boire un thé?
How would you like to go have some tea? 

Ça te dit has another meaning too. If you're not sure whether someone is familiar with what you're referring to, you can use the expression to double-check:

Non. Je connais pas Saguenay.

No. I don't know Saguenay.

-Bien, voyons, le fleuve, tout ça...

-Come on, the river, all that...

non, ça te dit rien?

no, that doesn't mean anything to you?

Caption 53, Le Québec parle - aux Français

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C'est situé dans le huitième arrondissement; je ne sais pas si

It's located in the eighth district; I don't know if

ça vous dit quelque chose, mais voilà.

that means anything to you, but there you go.

Caption 18, Paris Tour - Visite guidée de Paris

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Ça vous dit de regarder de nouvelles vidéos sur Yabla? 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to [email protected].