❓📛

How to Say ‘What is your name?’ in French

Comment vous appelez-vous ?

kuh-mahn voo ah-pluh-lay voo

[kuh-mahn voo ah-pluh-lay voo]

💬 Usage Tip: Word for word this asks "how do you call yourself?" The answer follows the same idea: Je m'appelle Anna "My name is Anna".

Phrase Breakdown

Comment

[kuh-mahn]

How

Used to inquire about the state of something.

Example

Comment était ta réunion aujourd'hui ?

How was your meeting today?

vous appelez-vous ?

voo ah-pluh-lay voo

do you call yourself?

Link 'vous' to 'appelez' with a 'z' sound: 'voo-za-play-voo'.

Example

Vous appelez-vous Paul ?

Is your name Paul?

Words in this phrase

vous

[voo]

yourself

Reflexive pronoun used with the verb "se sentir" meaning "to feel."

Example

Dans Vous vous sentiriez, vous fait partie du verbe pronominal.

In "Vous vous sentiriez," the second "vous" is part of the reflexive verb.

appelez

[ah-pluh-lay]

are called / are named

From the reflexive verb 's'appeler', used to ask or say someone's name.

Example

Vous vous appelez Marie, c'est bien ça ?

Your name is Marie, is that right?

-vous

[voo]

you

Subject pronoun attached after the verb in an inverted question form.

Example

Souhaitez-vous réserver pour demain ?

Would you like to book for tomorrow?

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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