Almost French Revision

One of the most stressful things in French to do is write an email because there is a precise formula of brown-nosing politeness that must be displayed. Even for French people they can seem daunting. I’ve done my best to lay out the formula along with some advice to writing a professional email. Note that this lays out the formula for the most formal type of email you would write. Also, this is something found in France (perhaps Switzerland and Belgium too? Someone let me know) but this type of formality is not so strict in Québec (thank god). So without further ado, here’s how to write a professional email in French!

The subject line should

Be a nominal phrase (i.e. without a conjugated verb)

Avoid articles (un/une, le/la/les)

No longer than about 7 words

Examples :

Demande d’informations

Candidature pour un stage

Annulation de la formation du 23 mars

Invitation aux Portes Ouvertes du 6 juin 2016

The opening lines

If you know the name of the person you are contacting, address with Monsieur or Madame followed by their surname

If you do not know to whom you are speaking, put “Madame, Monsieur,” this would be the equivalent of “To whom it may concern,”

If you do know their name, but you have not met and the person is of higher standing, address them with Monsieur/Madame and then their title

Examples : 

Madame la Directrice

Monsieur le Vice-Président

The body

Always use vous, always

If you are looking for information, use forms such as

Je souhaite recevoir des informations par rapport à…

Je voudrais savoir….

If you are applying for a job*, use forms such as

Je me permets de vous adresser un CV et une lettre de motivation

Vous trouverez ci-joint un CV et une lettre de motivation

If you need someone to do something, use forms such as

Je vous prie de bien vouloir….

Vous voudrez bien me faire…..

Do not use any slang, anglicisms, or abbreviations

Use simple, clear phrases. Short, concise sentences are preferred.

The closing statement

Just so you guys know, all of these phrases mean absolutely nothing, they are just formalities, seriously, they are just the literary equivalent of kneeling before the recipient and bowing

If you expect a response, put one of the following forms before the final salutation. If you use number 2 or 3, you will need to add “et” before the final salutation

Dans l’attente de votre réponse

J’attends vivement votre réponse

J’attends avec impatience votre réponse

Final salutation

Start with “Je vous prie d’agréer,

Next, the recipient (Madame, Monsieur)

Followed by any one of these:

Mes meilleures salutations

Mes salutations les meilleures

Mes salutations distinguées

Mes salutations respectueuses

Mes salutations cordiales

L’expression de mes salutations les plus sincères

Mes salutations sincères

Remember, in French, family names are entirely in caps, so when you sign your name, it would sign like Hugo MARTIN

*I will do another post entirely on submitting applications 

So here is a short example of an email I wrote my fictitious school department chair,

Madame la Directrice,

Je souhaite recevoir des informations par rapport à votre programme de masters. En particulier, je voudrais savoir si le programme comprend la possibilité de faire un stage pour des crédits. 

Dans l’attente de votre réponse, je vous prie d’agréer, Madame, mes salutations respectueuses.

Here you can find 679 French verbs. I’m considering using this as a base to make similar lists of Russian and Ukrainian verbs (maybe Polish too if someone’s interested) but it will take some time to finish so stay tuned.

A

abaisser to lower abasourdir to daze, bewilder abattre to knock down abolir to abolish absoudre to absolve abstenir (s’) to abstain accepter to accept acclamer to cheer, acclaim accompagner to accompany accorder to admit accourir to hurry accrocher to hang (up) accueillir to welcome accuser to accuse, acknowledge acheter to buy achever to achieve acquérir to acquire adjoindre to appoint admettre to admit admirer to admire adorer to adore adresser to address advenir to happen affaiblir to weaken agacer to annoy agir to act aider to help aimer to like, to love ajouter to add aller to go aménager to fit amener to take amuser to amuse animer to bring to life (a party) annoncer to announce apercevoir to see apprendre par coeur to memorize apparaître to appear appartenir to belong appeler to call apporter to bring apprendre to learn approcher to approach approuver to approve (of) armer to arm arracher to pull up/out arraisonner to hail arranger to arrange arrêter to stop, arrest arriver to arrive assaillir to assail asseoir to sit down assister to attend assurer to assure astreindre to compel attaquer to attack atteindre to attain attendre to wait for attirer to attract attraper to catch augmenter to increase avancer to advance aventurer to venture avoir to have avoir besoin to need avoir raison to be right

Are you hydrated?  If not, have a glass of water.

Have you eaten in the past three hours?  If not, get some food — something with protein, not just simple carbs.  Perhaps some nuts or hummus?

Have you showered in the past day?  If not, take a shower right now.

If daytime: are you dressed?  If not, put on clean clothes that aren’t pajamas.  Give yourself permission to wear something special, whether it’s a funny t-shirt or a pretty dress.

If nighttime: are you sleepy and fatigued but resisting going to sleep?  Put on pajamas, make yourself cozy in bed with a teddy bear and the sound of falling rain, and close your eyes for fifteen minutes — no electronic screens allowed.  If you’re still awake after that, you can get up again; no pressure.

Have you stretched your legs in the past day?  If not, do so right now.  If you don’t have the spoons for a run or trip to the gym, just walk around the block, then keep walking as long as you please.  If the weather’s crap, drive to a big box store (e.g. Target) and go on a brisk walk through the aisles you normally skip.

Have you said something nice to someone in the past day?  Do so, whether online or in person.  Make it genuine; wait until you see something really wonderful about someone, and tell them about it.

Have you moved your body to music in the past day?  If not, do so — jog for the length of an EDM song at your favorite BPM, or just dance around the room for the length of an upbeat song.

Have you cuddled a living being in the past two days?  If not, do so.  Don’t be afraid to ask for hugs from friends or friends’ pets.  Most of them will enjoy the cuddles too; you’re not imposing on them.

Do you feel ineffective?  Pause right now and get something small completed, whether it’s responding to an e-mail, loading up the dishwasher, or packing your gym bag for your next trip.  Good job!

Do you feel unattractive?  Take a goddamn selfie.  Your friends will remind you how great you look, and you’ll fight society’s restrictions on what beauty can look like.

Do you feel paralyzed by indecision?  Give yourself ten minutes to sit back and figure out a game plan for the day.  If a particular decision or problem is still being a roadblock, simply set it aside for now, and pick something else that seems doable.  Right now, the important part is to break through that stasis, even if it means doing something trivial.

Have you seen a therapist in the past few days?  If not, hang on until your next therapy visit and talk through things then.

Have you been over-exerting yourself lately — physically, emotionally, socially, or intellectually?  That can take a toll that lingers for days. Give yourself a break in that area, whether it’s physical rest, taking time alone, or relaxing with some silly entertainment.

Have you changed any of your medications in the past couple of weeks, including skipped doses or a change in generic prescription brand?  That may be screwing with your head.  Give things a few days, then talk to your doctor if it doesn’t settle down.

Have you waited a week?  Sometimes our perception of life is skewed, and we can’t even tell that we’re not thinking clearly, and there’s no obvious external cause.  It happens.  Keep yourself going for a full week, whatever it takes, and see if you still feel the same way then.

French Person: Non c’est une fucking pomme 

Please don’t ignore this.

As you may know, I’m Brazilian, and here in Brazil, presidential elections are happening.

We have a candidate named Jair Bolsonaro, and he is a man who supports torture, violence against women, LGBTQ + and black people.

He told a woman in an interview that she deserved to be raped.

He said that being gay is a bad thing and that his children would never be gay because they were well-bred.

He said that his children would never date a black woman and that the Afro-descendants are useless and do not even serve to procreate.

His supporters are screaming in the subways for the “queers” to be smart because Bolsonaro is going to kill fags.

He thinks the woman should earn less because she gets pregnant.

He said he had a daughter because he was “weak”.

And he’s winning.

Today was the first round of voting and this man is winning.

He said that the only way for Brazil to improve is if there is a war and innocent people die.

But innocents are already dying.

Brazil is the country that kills more LGBTQ + in the world, and this is the man who will be our president.

Women, transvestites, gays are being beaten on the street and I’m very scared.

I’m a lesbian, I’m a woman and I do know that in the course of his 4-year term I’m going to die.

I’m going to be another number in the statistics and I’m going to die.

I’m going to be beaten, raped, and I’m going to die.

So please, if anyone knows and some country that accepts immigrants easily help me, please.

I am afraid. I’m only 22 years old.

Questions Qu'est-ce que tu dois faire…(?) - What do you have to do? …pour aider à la maison? - …to help at home? Ways to say it Je ne dois rien faire - I don’t have to do anything Je dois - I have to J'aime - I like… Je déteste - I hate…