Tu es vivant ?
The English phrase "are you alive?" is translated into French as Tu es vivant ?
This phrase is used to ask if someone is still living or has survived a dangerous event.
Which one should you use?
The phrase uses the adjective vivant (alive) rather than the verb vivre (to live) to describe a state of being.
How does it change in a sentence?
If the person being addressed is female, the adjective changes from vivant to vivante: Tu es vivante ?
Did you know?
- French speakers sometimes use the phrase T'es vivant ? as a sarcastic way to greet a friend who has been missing or silent for a long time.
- While Tu es vivant ? is the literal translation, if you were checking if someone is still 'up and about' after a fall, a French speaker might more naturally ask Tu es entier ?, meaning 'Are you in one piece?'
- The pronoun tu shares a common ancestor with the Latin 'tū', making it a distant relative of the English 'thou' used in archaic poetry.
Examples in context
- Est-ce que tu es vivant ?Are you alive?
- Après l'accident, il a demandé : « Tu es vivant ? »After the accident, he asked, "Are you alive?"
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries tu, vivant, CC BY-SA 4.0.
