To ask "Do you speak English?" in French, say Vous parlez anglais ? (voo par-LAY ahn-GLAY), raising your voice at the end. Parlez-vous anglais ? is the more formal, textbook version, and Tu parles anglais ? is for friends or people your own age. In France, open with Bonjour and excusez-moi first.
- Everyday, polite
- Vous parlez anglais ?
- Formal
- Parlez-vous anglais ?
- Informal
- Tu parles anglais ?
- I speak a little French
- Je parle un peu français
- Level
- A1
Vous parlez anglais or parlez-vous anglais?
French has three ways to turn a statement into a question, and all three work here. The difference is register, not meaning.
| French | How it's built | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Vous parlez anglais ? | Statement + rising voice | Everyday and polite; what most people say |
| Est-ce que vous parlez anglais ? | Est-ce que + statement | Neutral, very clear |
| Parlez-vous anglais ? | Verb and pronoun swapped | Formal, written, phrasebook |
| Tu parles anglais ? | Statement + rising voice, tu | Friends, young people, children |
| Quelqu'un parle anglais ici ? | Someone + verb | Asking a room or a shop in general |
In writing, note the space before the question mark: Vous parlez anglais ? French typography in France puts a narrow space before ? ! : and ;.
How do you ask politely in France?
Greet first, then ask. Launching straight into a question, in any language, comes across as abrupt in France. A short apology for your French softens it further and often gets a kinder answer.
Bonjour madame, excusez-moi, vous parlez anglais ?
Hello, excuse me, do you speak English?
Désolé, je ne parle pas bien français.
Sorry, I don't speak French well.
Désolée if you are a woman.
Je parle un peu français.
I speak a little French.
Je suis anglais. / Je suis anglaise.
I'm English.
Man / woman.
More ways to get someone's attention are on the page on how to say excuse me in French.
What answers might you hear?
Listen for un peu (a little) and pas du tout (not at all). Many people will reply in English if they can; if they answer in French, slow French is an invitation to keep going.
Oui, un peu.
Yes, a little.
Un tout petit peu.
Just a tiny bit.
Non, désolé.
No, sorry.
Pas du tout.
Not at all.
Allez-y, je vous écoute.
Go ahead, I'm listening.
Why is anglais written with a small a?
In French, languages are nouns or adjectives and take no capital: anglais, français, espagnol. Only a person from a country gets a capital, and only as a noun: un Anglais (an Englishman), but il est anglais (he is English). Writing Anglais in this question is one of the most common learner slips.
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How do you pronounce parlez-vous anglais?
"par-lay-VOO ahn-GLAY". The z of parlez is silent, and so is the s of anglais. The an at the start of anglais is nasal: don't fully sound the n.
Is parlez-vous anglais rude?
No, it is perfectly polite, just a little formal. What can feel rude is asking without saying bonjour first.
How do you say do you speak French?
Vous parlez français ? or, to a friend, Tu parles français ? The same pattern works for any language: vous parlez espagnol ?, tu parles allemand ?
How do you say I'm learning French?
J'apprends le français. Here the language takes le, because it is the object of apprendre. After parler, the article is usually dropped: je parle français.