Mission: switch between formal and casual French
Registers. Match your French to the person, the place and the medium.
FrenchB2 · Sounding naturalAbout 9 min: 4 reading, 5 practiceUpdated
- Tell the three registers apart (soutenu, courant, familier)
- Recognise ne dropped and on for nous in speech
- Decide between tu and vous at work and with strangers
- Choose the right register for an interview, a text to a friend and an email to a landlord
Sounding natural: lesson 1 of 4
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Level Level B2 (around the DELF B2 exam). Real French: moving between a job interview, a text to a friend and an email to a landlady.
What it is
Your mission: you have just moved to Lyon. This week you have a job interview with M. Leroy, a text to send to your friend Manon, and an email to write to your landlady, Mme Garnier, about the heating. Same you, three very different ways of speaking. Get all three right.
French has three registers, and a fluent speaker slides between them all day.
- Soutenu (formal): careful, often written. Official letters, speeches, some interviews.
- Courant (standard): neutral and polite. Safe almost everywhere.
- Familier (casual): relaxed, spoken, with friends and family.
| Soutenu | Courant | Familier |
|---|---|---|
| Je l'ignore. | Je ne sais pas. | Chais pas. |
| Une automobile | Une voiture | Une bagnole |
| Auriez-vous l'heure ? | Vous avez l'heure ? | T'as l'heure ? |
Automobile is more formal or administrative than truly literary; the point is the step up from voiture.
Spoken French also changes the grammar, not only the words:
- ne disappears in speech: je (ne) sais pas → je sais pas; ce n'est pas grave → c'est pas grave; il n'y a pas → y a pas. In writing, keep ne.
- on replaces nous: on va au cinéma = nous allons au cinéma. Everyone says it, but in a formal letter you still write nous.
- Words get clipped: je ne sais pas → chais pas; s'il te plaît → stp in texts (svp for s'il vous plaît).
Tu or vous? With strangers, shop staff, an older person, a manager or a new colleague, start with vous. Tu is for friends, family, children and, in many workplaces, colleagues once someone suggests it (on peut se tutoyer ?). Practice differs from one company to another, so listen to what the others do, and when in doubt, stay with vous. Never mix the two in the same sentence.
More detail: a politeness ladder for the same request
Asking for a document:
- Soutenu (letter): Je vous serais reconnaissant de bien vouloir m'envoyer le contrat.
- Courant (email): Pourriez-vous m'envoyer le contrat, s'il vous plaît ?
- Familier (text to a friend): Tu peux m'envoyer le contrat, stp ?
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
Your friend texts « Je sais pas si je viens. » What has been left out of the standard sentence?
- It is je ne sais pas, and le plays no part
- The verb sais is still there
Show answer
the ne of the negation. in casual speech and texts, ne is often dropped: je (ne) sais pas.
Why it matters
Registers are part of what French people hear first. A learner who says Salut, tu peux me filer le dossier ? to an interviewer, or Je vous prie de bien vouloir agréer… to a friend, is understood but sounds odd. At B2 you are expected to adjust to the person and the medium.
Worked example
Three situations, three registers.
1. The interview (courant to soutenu, with vous)
- M. Leroy: Pourquoi souhaitez-vous travailler chez nous ?
- You: Le poste correspond à mon expérience et je serais ravi de rejoindre votre équipe. Je ne connais pas encore tous vos projets, mais je me suis renseigné.
2. The text to Manon (familier, with tu)
- Salut Manon ! Je sais pas si je pourrai venir ce soir, j'ai un entretien demain. On se voit samedi, stp ? Bisous
3. The email to Mme Garnier (courant, polite, with vous)
- Madame, je vous écris car le chauffage ne fonctionne plus depuis lundi. Pourriez-vous envoyer un technicien dès que possible ? Je vous remercie d'avance. Cordialement, Julie Martin
Real French: in the interview you keep every ne (je ne connais pas), whereas in the text to Manon you drop it (je sais pas). Both are correct: they are just in different registers.
Common mistake
Using one register for everything. Typical slips: a casual word to someone you should address formally (wrong: Salut, tu peux m'envoyer le contrat ? to a landlady), or writing a text to a friend like a letter. Another is mixing tu and vous with the same person (wrong: Pourriez-vous me dire si tu as le temps ?).
Before you write or speak, ask two questions: who is it for? and is it spoken or written?
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
You write to your landlady for the first time. Which opening is best?
- tu and Salut are too casual for a landlady you don't know
- It mixes a formal opening with tu
Show answer
Madame, pourriez-vous m'envoyer un technicien ?. first contact with a landlord: Madame + vous + conditional (polite courant).
Key terms
- soutenu
- formal, careful register
- courant
- standard, neutral register
- familier
- casual register, used with friends and family
- tutoyer
- to address someone as tu
- vouvoyer
- to address someone as vous
- on
- we (in speech), instead of nous
- stp / svp
- texting short forms of s'il te plaît / s'il vous plaît
- cordialement
- a neutral way to end an email
Practise the key terms
Tap a card to turn it over. 8 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| soutenu | formal, careful register |
| courant | standard, neutral register |
| familier | casual register, used with friends and family |
| tutoyer | to address someone as tu |
| vouvoyer | to address someone as vous |
| on | we (in speech), instead of nous |
| stp / svp | texting short forms of s'il te plaît / s'il vous plaît |
| cordialement | a neutral way to end an email |
Practice
Quick quiz
Tap an answer to check it.
Which sentence would suit a job interview?
- Too casual for an interview
- Too casual for an interview
Show answer
Je ne connais pas encore tous vos projets.. courant to soutenu: ne is kept and the sentence is complete.
A friend says « On va au cinéma ce soir ? ». Who is going?
- In speech, on very often means nous
- On refers to a group, not to one person
Show answer
Probably the speaker and you (on = we). in speech on replaces nous.
You have just started at a company and you meet the manager. Which is the safest choice?
- Too familiar for a manager you have just met
- It mixes tu with a formal title
Show answer
Vous voulez un café ?. start with vous and let the other person suggest tu.
Sort it
Formal or casual?
Je vous prie de m'excuser.
polite, written or officialShow answer
Formal. polite, written or official
Chais pas.
clipped spoken formShow answer
Casual. clipped spoken form
Je vous serais reconnaissant de…
letter languageShow answer
Formal. letter language
Ça roule ?
friendsShow answer
Casual. friends
stp
textingShow answer
Casual. texting
Veuillez trouver ci-joint…
official email or letterShow answer
Formal. official email or letter
Recognition drill
Pick the right answer, as fast as you can.
All pairs
Tap a card to turn it over. 6 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| bagnole | voiture |
| bouquin | livre |
| fringues | vêtements |
| gamin | enfant |
| resto | restaurant |
| chais pas | je ne sais pas |
Build the sentence
Build the request to a landlady. (The polite phrase comes last.)
Show answer
Pourriez-vous m'envoyer le contrat s'il vous plaît ?. Pourriez-vous + verb + object, then the polite phrase.
Practise speaking
Studyfern has no voice tools of its own. To practise out loud, copy this prompt into a voice-capable AI assistant and talk with it.
Mission role-play. You are Mme Garnier, my landlady in Lyon. Speak naturally but clearly, at level B2, using vous with me throughout. Start with « Bonjour, vous m'avez écrit à propos du chauffage ? ». Then give me one situation at a time and ask me to say it in the right register: first my job interview (formal), then a message to my friend Manon (casual), then another message to you (formal). Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer. After each of my replies, tell me in English whether the register fits (ne kept or dropped, tu or vous, formal or casual words), and let me try again if it doesn't. Write or say each message as if to that person, not to me, so that I never use tu with the landlady. The mission is complete when I have given three replies in the right register: then say « Mission accomplie ! » and give me one tip. Keep every reply under 3 sentences.
Listen too. Listen to native speakers before and after: see the free listening and shadowing links.
Good to know. AI feedback on pronunciation is hit and miss, so check yourself against native recordings. Many assistants turn your speech into text first, so a vowel or liaison you got wrong may be silently “heard” as the right word. Don't share personal details: use a made-up name and town.
New to this? Read Practising speaking with an AI.
In short
- French has three registers: soutenu (formal), courant (standard) and familier (casual).
- In speech, ne is often dropped and on replaces nous; in writing and formal speech, keep ne and nous.
- Start with vous for strangers, managers and new colleagues; move to tu when the other person suggests it.
- Interview and landlady: courant to formal and polite, with vous. Friends: familier, with tu.
- stp and chais pas belong to texts and speech between friends only.
Mastery check
Answer without looking back. Score 80% or more and the lesson is marked done. Your result is kept only in this browser.
Check yourself
Answer in your head first, then open the answer. Nothing is saved.
Say "I don't know" in a formal and in a casual way.
Show answer
Je l'ignore / Je ne sais pas (formal or standard); chais pas / je sais pas (casual).
What does on mean in « On va au cinéma » ?
Show answer
We (nous): we are going to the cinema.
Which pronoun do you use with a manager you have just met?
Show answer
Vous.
Further reading
- TV5MONDE, Apprendre le français, free exercises and videos on everyday French.
- RFI, Journal en français facile, a free daily news bulletin in simple French.
Finished? Mark it done to fill in your leaf on the French map.