{"id":118191,"date":"2016-02-04T00:11:33","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T05:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/formal-french\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T05:12:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T10:12:01","slug":"formal-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/formal-french\/","title":{"rendered":"An Easy Guide to Formal French"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s often difficult for English speakers to grasp the differences in register found in French.\u00a0It’s also easy to feel anxious about your lack of familiarity (so to speak) with the register, and to obsess over how easy it is to be impolite in French without even meaning to.<\/p>\n

But your fears are about to be assuaged, because in this post we’ll confront formal French head-on.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ways to Express Formality in French<\/h2>\n

Now that you know when to use formal French, it’s time to examine how. Here are five ways you can elevate your standard French to the formal register!<\/p>\n

1. Use\u00a0Vous<\/em><\/h3>\n

You’ve probably already gleaned this, but it bears repeating: The staple of the switch between informal and formal French is undoubtedly the formal\u00a0vous. Vous\u00a0<\/em>is technically the plural “you,” but it’s also used in formal cases.<\/p>\n

In fact,\u00a0vous\u00a0<\/em>is so much the indicator of when to use formal versus when to use informal French that as soon as someone offers to\u00a0tutoyer,\u00a0<\/em>or say\u00a0tu,<\/em> you can immediately switch to standard or even informal French.<\/p>\n

And for those Anglophones wondering why we don’t have an equivalent in English… we do. It’s “you.”<\/p>\n

“Thou” is the former informal “you”\u2014you can see as you compare it to\u00a0tu\u00a0<\/em>that it comes from the same root. We did away with it in English for simplicity’s sake, preferring to keep everyone at arm’s length by using “you” all the time. In French, then,\u00a0tu\u00a0<\/em>is retained but reserved for people you know very well.<\/p>\n

2. Use the Conditional of Politeness<\/h3>\n

You’ve probably heard of the conditional<\/a>\u00a0as a tense to be used when you’re expressing actions that could happen, using conditional clauses. But there’s a second use of the conditional, used when expressing politeness.<\/p>\n

For example, instead of saying…<\/p>\n

Peux-tu me passer le pain ?\u00a0<\/em>(Can you pass me the bread?)<\/p>\n

…say…<\/p>\n

Pourriez-vous\u00a0<\/em>me passer le pain ?\u00a0<\/em>(Could you pass me the bread?)<\/p>\n

The conditional of politeness can be used with any sort of request, whether it’s at the dinner table, in a store or over the phone. But don’t use it willy-nilly just to be more polite\u2014it only works with requests!<\/p>\n

3. Use a More Formal Synonym<\/h3>\n

One of the major elements of the formal register of French is the vocabulary. There are a variety of words that have informal, standard and formal synonyms, to be used according to the register.<\/p>\n

An example are the words for “car”:<\/p>\n

Bagnole\u00a0<\/em>is the informal term.<\/p>\n

Voiture\u00a0<\/i>is the standard term.<\/p>\n

V\u00e9hicule\u00a0<\/em>is the formal term.<\/p>\n

For more examples like these, check out this site<\/a> intended for native French learners\u2014even they sometimes have a hard time getting it right!<\/p>\n

4. Use Formules de Politesse<\/em> When Speaking<\/h3>\n

French\u00a0formules de politesse\u00a0<\/em>are little sentences that seemingly every French person knows. They’re phrases that can be used to add a formal flair to any sentence, and while they’re usually relegated to written French, you’ll occasionally hear them spoken out loud as well.<\/p>\n

Here are a few common ones to get you started:<\/p>\n

Auriez-vous la gentillesse de…\u00a0<\/em>(Would you be so kind as to…)<\/p>\n

Est-ce que cela vous d\u00e9rangerait de…\u00a0<\/em>(Would it bother you horribly to…)<\/p>\n

5. Use Formules de Politesse<\/em> When Writing<\/h3>\n

Written\u00a0formules de politesse\u00a0<\/em>are far more common, and there are far more to use!<\/p>\n

Here are some useful ones:<\/p>\n

Merci de bien vouloir…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This phrase is followed by an action. For example, you could write\u00a0Merci de bien vouloir me communiquer vos dates de disponibilit\u00e9\u00a0<\/em>(Please let me know what dates you are available).\u00a0As you can see, we can sort of translate it as “please”<\/a> in English, but it literally means, “Thank you for wanting to…”<\/p>\n

Dans l’attente de votre retour,….\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a phrase used at the end of a letter to express that you expect the reader of the letter (or email) to write back to you. It’s sort of equivalent to “Looking forward to hearing from you!” But much more formal. It will be followed by the next item in the list.<\/p>\n

…Je vous prie, Madame, Monsieur, de bien vouloir agr\u00e9er l’expression de mes sentiments distingu\u00e9s.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the be-all and end-all of formules de politesse<\/em>. It’s the standard sign-off that all French schoolchildren learn when they’re first learning to write a letter in school. Directly translated, it means the following: “I pray you, Madam, Sir, to want to agree with the expression of my distinguished sentiments.”<\/p>\n

But the English equivalent is just “Sincerely.”<\/p>\n

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