Hi! Why are there two vous's when using the more formal question??

Question

Hi! Why are there two vous's when using the more formal question?? I have seen this before and don't fully understand why vous is repeated... Thanks!

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Chloe,

S'appeler is a reflexive verb, which means that it needs a reflexive pronoun. In je m'appelle, "m" is the reflexive pronoun. In vous vous appeler, the 2nd vous is the reflexive pronoun: https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/glossary/pronoun-type/pronoms-reflechis-reflexive-pronouns

Answer

So when you are telling someone your name, "Je m'appelle John", you are saying "I call myself...". If you were to say "Je t'appelle...", with a "t" instead of an "m", then it would means "I call YOU", instead of "I call MYSELF".

Likewise, if someone said "Tu m'appelles", then it means "you call ME".

So with the "vous" example, the first "vous" is there because it's them who's doing the calling. The second "vous" is there because that's the person they are calling, they are calling themselves something (their name).

The word for "you" and "yourself" are both "vous" in that example. The words for "I" and "myself" are different, "je" and "me". The informal words for "you" and "yourself" are also different, "tu" and te".

I hope this helps, and if I'm wrong can someone please correct me.