Well, this is embarrassing. Oftentimes when I ask our Chouchous* how they are as they come into class, they respond like this:

“Très bien, merci….et…..(long pause, scrunched up face)…tu (pleading eyes) ?”

For some reason, whenever I hear this response, the phrase “Et tu, Brutus?” comes to mind. It’s one of those phrases that you seem to pick up by osmosis and I’ve always thought that perhaps this is why students struggle to give the correct response to ça va* (which is et toi* ? by the way).

However, in doing some preliminary research for this article, I found out tout de suite* that the phrase is in fact “Et tu, Brute?” in Latin and “And you, Brutus?” in English. It turns out that long-standing loop in my head was wrong all along in any case.

Of course, if you’re reading this and have no idea (or interest) in what I’m talking about, you may more readily accept this logical (and simple) explanation as the most likely. Simply put, tu in French means ‘you’, so many students put two and two together (being et for ‘and’ and tu for ‘you’) and come up with et tu ?

It’s not a terrible mistake, but it is one that can crop up right at the start of a conversation and slightly derail proceedings, so if we can fix it without too much effort, tant mieux*, no?

The word toi belongs to a group of pronouns called ‘disjunctives’ and the name holds the key to their use. The dictionary definition of ‘disjunctive’ is: lacking any clear connection.

Bear that definition in mind as we contrast it with tu, for example. Tu is a subject pronoun and must be connected to a verb. In fact, you could say that subject pronouns need their accompanying verbs to make any sense at all.

Disjunctive pronouns, on the other hand, can be used without a verb. They can actually be used all by themselves (moi ?) or with little connecting words called conjunctions. Take a look at the table below to see the difference.

You’ll see I’ve marked in bold the shared English translations between the two different types of pronouns. I think this may be the root cause of the confusion.

By the way, disjunctive pronouns marry really well with lots of other little words to create quick rejoinders:

et toi ?
avec moi ?
sans nous ?
pour eux ?

and my personal favourite: the chez* family. In fact this is how I tend to remember them:

chez moi
chez toi
chez lui
chez elle
chez soi
chez nous
chez vous
chez eux
chez elles

So, next time you’re asked ça va, take a breath before answering with confidence, très bien, merci, et toi ?

Of course, you could simplify your life by calling everyone the formal vous, but that’s not nearly as much fun, is it?

How to Learn French - Et tu, Brutus ?