tutoyer

[too-twah-yey, ty-twa-yey]

verb (used with object)

tutoyered, tutoyed , tutoyering .

1. to address (someone), especially in French, using the familiar forms of the pronoun “you” rather than the more formal forms; address familiarly.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tutoyer¹

1690–1700; < French, to address as tu and toi (the familiar singular forms for “you” in French)

Example Sentences

“I am Dominique. Just call me Dominique. Not Madame—Dominique. I will tutoyer you. You can tutoyer me, too,” she says, indicating that we’re all to use the informal form of address.

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Last year, Laurent Joffrin, director of left-leaning news magazine Nouvel Observateur, turned on a follower, asking who authorised him to use "tu" - "Qui vous autorise a me tutoyer?"

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It's agreed; we will tutoyer each other.

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We have generally used the colloquial second person plural, in place of the thee and thou of the original, since to reproduce the original would not convey the needed intimacy of the French 'tutoyer': but in few cases it seemed better to adhere to the singular.

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I can’t tutoyer for the life of me.”

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