Professional Correspondence: Memos & Formal Emails
Professional Correspondence: Memos & Formal Emails
A French memo or formal email follows a fixed skeleton of openings, framing phrases, and closings — deviate from the formula and even a well-argued message can read as oddly casual, much as skipping 'Dear Sir/Madam' and 'Yours sincerely' in a formal English letter would.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
veuillez: the formal imperative of vouloir
Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document demandé. (Please find attached the requested document.)
Please find attached the requested document.
veuillez is the irregular formal imperative of vouloir, used almost exclusively in written correspondence to mean 'please' in a more elevated register than s'il vous plaît — veuillez + infinitive is the standard opener for a polite instruction or request in an email or memo. It maps closely onto the stiff, formulaic register of English 'please find attached' or 'kindly note,' phrases that likewise never appear in casual speech. Using s'il vous plaît instead isn't wrong, but veuillez signals the same distanced, official tone that 'kindly' does in English business writing.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| la note de service | lah not duh ser-VEES | the memo |
| à l'attention de | ah la-tahn-SYOHN duh | for the attention of |
| veuillez trouver ci-joint | vuh-YAY troo-VAY see-ZHWAN | please find attached |
| dans l'attente de votre réponse | dahn la-TAHNT duh vot-ruh ray-POHNS | awaiting your response |
| veuillez agréer mes salutations distinguées | vuh-YAY ah-gray-AY may sa-lew-ta-SYOHN dee-stan-GAY | yours sincerely (formal closing) |
| je vous prie de bien vouloir | zhuh voo PREE duh byan voo-LWAHR | I kindly request that you |
| faire suite à | fair sweet AH | further to / following up on |
| ci-dessous | see-duh-SOO | below |
| ci-joint | see-ZHWAN | attached / enclosed |
| dans les meilleurs délais | dahn lay may-YUHR day-LEH | as soon as possible |
| n'hésitez pas à me contacter | nay-zee-tay pah ah muh kohn-tak-TAY | don't hesitate to contact me |
| cordialement | kor-dyal-MAHN | best regards (semi-formal closing) |