Cultural and sociolinguistic awareness
Domain 6 - Cultural and sociolinguistic awareness. This domain tests whether your French would land correctly with a real speaker: which greeting, which pronoun, which day, which hour. The grammar can be perfect and the answer still wrong if the everyday habit behind it is different.
Tu and vous
vous is the default with strangers, shop staff, officials, teachers and any adult who has not invited tu. tu is for family, friends, children, classmates and same-age colleagues in informal settings. The verbs tutoyer and vouvoyer name the choice. An adult who addresses you with tu first has offered the switch; until then stay on vous. Getting this wrong reads as either cold or disrespectful.
Politeness rituals
- Bonjour is not optional: entering a small shop, a waiting room or a lift without it is considered rude. Leave with Merci, au revoir, bonne journée.
- La bise (one to four cheek touches, region-dependent) is for friends and family - not for a shopkeeper, a first business meeting or an official. A handshake covers professional introductions.
- Madame / Monsieur used alone, without a surname, is polite and complete: Bonjour Madame is correct.
Time, meals, calendar
- The 24-hour clock is standard for appointments, trains and opening hours: rendez-vous à 14 h 30.
- Meals: le petit-déjeuner (7–9), le déjeuner (12–13.30), le goûter for children around 16 h, le dîner from about 19.30. Many shops and offices close between 12 h and 14 h.
- Dates run day/month/year: 03/05/2024 is 3 May. Public holidays include le 1er mai, le 8 mai, le 14 juillet, le 11 novembre. Sundays are quiet, many businesses also close on Mondays, and August empties the big cities.
- The decimal comma is used: 3,50 €, with the euro sign after the number.
Worked example
You enter a small bakery at 17 h and want a baguette. Reasoning: it is afternoon, so Bonjour Madame - not Bonsoir, which begins around 18 h, and not Salut. Request: Je voudrais une baguette, s'il vous plaît. On leaving: Merci, au revoir, bonne soirée. No bise, no first name.
Traps that cost marks
Greeting with Salut in a formal setting; offering la bise to a stranger; using tu with a teacher or official; assuming shops serve at midday or on Sunday; reading 05/03 as 3 May when it is 5 March; dropping Madame/Monsieur when addressing a stranger.