Letter and email
Formal French letters to authorities, landlords or employers follow fixed formulas. To English speakers they often sound excessively polite, but they are simply the standard. Professional emails are shorter. The choice depends on the medium and on your relationship with the reader.
Same request, two forms
Formal letter
Madame, Monsieur,
Dear Sir or Madam,
Je vous serais reconnaissant de bien vouloir m'envoyer une attestation.
I would be grateful if you could send me a certificate.
Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.
Yours faithfully,
Professional email
Bonjour Madame Martin,
Dear Ms Martin,
Pourriez-vous m'envoyer une attestation ?
Could you send me a certificate?
Bien cordialement,
Kind regards,
The salutation
In a formal letter, the salutation traditionally contains no surname. Where English writes “Dear Ms Martin”, French simply has Madame,. A title or function, on the other hand, may be included.
Which salutation when
| Situation | Salutation |
|---|---|
| recipient unknown | Madame, Monsieur, |
| person known, formal | Madame, or Monsieur, |
| person holding an office | Madame la Directrice, Monsieur le Maire, |
| familiar business contact | Chère Madame, Cher Monsieur, |
| professional email | Bonjour Madame Martin, |
Opening and request
A request in a formal letter rests on two cushions: the conditional serais and the phrase bien vouloir, which softens it further. The adjective agrees with you as the writer: reconnaissant or reconnaissante.
The polite request
Suite à notre entretien téléphonique du 3 mars, je vous adresse le dossier complet.
Further to our telephone conversation of 3 March, I am sending you the complete file.
Je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de ma facture du mois d'août.
I am writing to you regarding my invoice for August.
Je vous serais reconnaissante de bien vouloir me rappeler.
I would be grateful if you could call me back.
A woman is writing, hence reconnaissante.
Vous trouverez ci-joint mon curriculum vitae.
Please find my CV attached.
The closing formula
The closing formula is a full sentence. It repeats the salutation word for word, set off by commas. If you open with Madame la Directrice,, you also close with Madame la Directrice.
Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.
Yours faithfully,
Dans l'attente de votre réponse, je vous prie d'agréer, Madame la Directrice, l'expression de mes salutations respectueuses.
I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely,
Je vous prie de recevoir, Monsieur, mes salutations distinguées.
Yours sincerely,
In an email, a short formula is enough: Cordialement, Bien cordialement or, a little warmer, Bien à vous. Under a formal paper letter, however, Cordialement comes across as too curt.
