{"id":119349,"date":"2023-09-15T00:29:58","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T04:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/formal-french-letter\/"},"modified":"2025-02-17T06:46:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T11:46:00","slug":"formal-french-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/formal-french-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Formal Letter in French"},"content":{"rendered":"

Formal French letters are all about turning your flowery French writing skills<\/a> up to 11.\u00a0You need the right letter structure and polite expressions to write a formal letter fluently.<\/p>\n

Below I’ll give you the formula to do it right: five steps to craft a formal French letter that’ll impress any reader\u2014with added tips for personal letters as well as emails.<\/p>\n

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

<\/p>\n

How to Write Formal French Letters<\/h2>\n

This may sound obvious, but before you can write a formal letter in French, you have to understand its different parts. Bear in mind that French letters are very different from those in English-speaking countries<\/strong>, so it’s important to follow the template below.<\/p>\n

1. Your name and contact information in upper left-hand corner<\/h3>\n

Start with your name as the sender.<\/strong> Write the abbreviated form of your title (“M.” for Monsieur<\/em> and “Mme.” for Madame<\/em>), followed by your first name and last name in that order.<\/p>\n

Note that Mademoiselle<\/em> (Mlle.) isn’t often used in formal writing. In other words, if you’re a woman, it’s acceptable to use “Mme.” regardless of your actual marital status.<\/p>\n

Remember to capitalize your last name.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then, write your contact information (address, phone number, etc.) below your name. If you’re writing your address, write the street in one line followed by the postal code and city in another line below it. Of course, if you’re living in a country other than France, that country should be written in yet another line.<\/p>\n

Your header will look like this:<\/p>\n

Mme Marie DURAS<\/em><\/p>\n

45 rue Gaston<\/em><\/p>\n

12345 Toulouse<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Below, recipient’s name and contact information on right-hand side<\/h3>\n

The recipient’s header follows the same format as the sender’s header, except you also need to write the sender’s title and the company they work for underneath their name.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

M. Michel DUBOIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Directeur\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de France<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

24 avenue du General de Gaulle<\/em><\/p>\n

45678 Orl\u00e9ans<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Start message with a salutation<\/h3>\n

Unlike in English, you don’t put the French equivalent of “Dear Sir or Madam,” or “To Whom it May Concern.” It’s actually much simpler.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, put your current location and date on the right-hand side below the recipient’s header<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Paris, le 14 septembre 2023<\/em> (Paris, September 14, 2023)<\/p>\n

Then, write how you’d formally address your recipient on the left-hand side below your current location and date.<\/strong> It can be any of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
French Forms of Address<\/th>English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Monsieur<\/em><\/td>Sir\/Mister<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Madame<\/em><\/td>Madam<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Monsieur\/Madame<\/em><\/td>Sir\/Madam<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Messieurs<\/em><\/td>plural of Monsieur<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mesdames<\/em><\/td>plural of Madame<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

4. Write the body similar to how you would in English<\/h3>\n

There’s not really much to explain here. A standard formal French letter contains an introduction of yourself.<\/p>\n

For example, if you’re applying for a computer-related job, you can start with:<\/p>\n

Hautement entra\u00een\u00e9 dans l’informatique, je vous propose ma candidature pour… <\/em>(“Highly trained in computer science, I propose to you my candidacy for…”)<\/p>\n

Then, write the body of the letter as you’d write it in English.<\/p>\n

One thing to keep in mind about French is the difference between the informal “you” (tu)\u00a0<\/em>and formal “you” (vous<\/em>)<\/strong><\/a>. In personal letters,\u00a0tu<\/em> is used, but in formal letters, you should stick with\u00a0vous<\/em>. For example:<\/p>\n

Vous avez r\u00e9alis\u00e9 …<\/em> (You have executed\/carried out …)<\/p>\n

Tu as r\u00e9alis\u00e9 …<\/em> (You have executed\/carried out …)<\/p>\n

They mean the same thing, but the first one is more formal than the second.<\/p>\n

5. Close with a formule de politesse<\/em> and signature<\/h3>\n

A key difference in formal French letter writing is the use of long and flowery closing salutations<\/strong>. Whereas in English we might just say “Sincerely,” in French you’d write something like:<\/p>\n

Je vous prie d’accepter, Madame Delacroix, l’expression de mes sentiments distingu\u00e9es. <\/em>(I ask you to accept, Ms. Delacroix, the expression of my distinguished sentiments.)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Veuillez vous agr\u00e9er, Monsieur le Directeur, l’expression de ma consideration distingu\u00e9e. <\/em>(Please accept\/agree with, Mr. Director, the expression of my distinguished consideration.)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

This may seem overly complicated and overwhelming, but in reality, the formula is simple. Also, don’t forget to put your name and signature at the bottom right side of the letter<\/strong>, like this:<\/p>\n

Marie DURAS<\/em><\/p>\n

Responsable de ventes <\/em>(Sales manager)<\/p>\n

How Personal French Letters Differ from Formal Ones<\/h2>\n

In letters to family and friends, you don’t have to worry about dates, signatures and contact information.<\/p>\n

Your opening salutation may be something affectionate like Cher Fran\u00e7ois<\/em>\u00a0(Dear Fran\u00e7ois) or\u00a0Ma soeur ch\u00e9rie<\/em> (My dear sister). Instead of a formule de politesse<\/em>, you can put Je vous embrasse<\/em>\u00a0(I kiss you) or the more informal\u00a0Bisous<\/em>\u00a0(Kisses).<\/p>\n

The topic of informal vs. formal writing brings up an important point: your ability to write formal French letters can be improved when you know \u201cauthentic\u201d French\u2014 that is, the natural way in which the language is spoken by real native speakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For some reason, it’s easy for letters to become overly dry if you just rely on the technicalities. This is a problem for any letter, formal or otherwise. You want to sound as genuine as you are eloquent.<\/p>\n

Being familiar with authentic French, and knowing the differences between informal<\/a> and formal speech<\/a>, can make the words and sentences you write flow more easily.<\/p>\n

Therefore, you want to expose yourself to native French conversations<\/a>. You can also study using authentic French media such as books<\/a>, TV shows<\/a> and podcasts<\/a>. They can show you tidbits of French culture<\/a> while also describing situations that call for certain levels of formality.<\/p>\n

Should You Write French Emails Like Letters?<\/h2>\n

Keep in mind that emails took a longer time to adopt in France than in English-speaking countries. In fact, until recently, French business correspondence was conducted almost entirely using lettres manuscrites<\/em> (written letters) despite the presence of computers.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, I generally use the same format described above when sending formal French emails<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How Can Writing Formal Letters Improve Your French?<\/h2>\n

The complexity and artistry that go into formal letter writing will teach you the ins and outs of advanced French writing<\/strong>. I spent two semesters studying formal correspondence, and that was one of the best decisions I made while learning French. Here’s why I think so.<\/p>\n

In French, sentences are works of art<\/h3>\n

This may be subjective, but in my experience, French text tends to flow more smoothly and use a greater variety of vocabulary<\/a> than English. Whereas in English we tend to get straight to the point, French adds a lot of dressing on top.<\/p>\n

For example, check out this sentence I found on YouTube:\u00a0J’ai la plaisir de poser ma candidature pour le poste annonc\u00e9 comme un professeur d’informatique. <\/em>(I have the pleasure to pose my candidacy for the announced job opening as a computer science professor.)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

That sentence reads well enough! In English, on the other hand, we’d say something like “I would like to apply for the computer science professor job opening.” As you can see, formal French letters can be more verbose and complex than English letters.<\/p>\n

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