Emails and Messages phrases and words in French
French professional email culture runs on elaborate formulas, polite fictions, and carefully calibrated sign-offs. The language is more formal than English corporate email, but the passive aggression is no less real — it just wears a cravat. These phrases are the building blocks of French workplace correspondence: the openers that hold you to account, the closers that imply availability you don't feel, and the follow-ups that are unfailingly polite until they aren't.
11 phrases · meanings & example sentences
“Cordialement”
The standard French professional email sign-off — 'cordially'. Its warmth is calibrated with precision: warmer than 'Salutations distinguées' (too cold, used for strangers or legal correspondence), cooler than 'Bien à vous' (reserved for people you actually like). Sending 'cordialement' when you are furious is the French email equivalent of saying 'fine' when you are not fine. Everyone knows.
- Il a terminé son mail avec un simple 'Cordialement' — après trois semaines sans réponse, ça voulait tout dire — he ended his email with a bare 'Cordialement' — after three weeks of no reply, it said everything
- Entre collègues proches, 'cordialement' ça fait un peu froid — entre collègues proches on dit plutôt 'bonne journée' ou 'à bientôt' — between close colleagues 'cordialement' feels a bit cold — you'd usually say 'bonne journée' or 'à bientôt'
- J'ai reçu sa réponse : deux lignes et 'Cordialement' là où d'habitude il met 'Bien à toi' — I got his reply: two lines and 'Cordialement' where he usually writes 'Bien à toi'
“Suite à notre entretien téléphonique”
'Following our phone conversation' — the classic French corporate email opener that means you are being held to something you said. It is a soft audit trail, a polite memo that this conversation happened and that commitments were made. The French equivalent of 'as per our call', but with more ceremony and less passive aggression. Unless, of course, it comes right before a deadline reminder.
- Suite à notre entretien téléphonique de ce matin, je me permets de vous adresser les documents évoqués — following our telephone conversation this morning, I am taking the liberty of sending you the documents we discussed
- Suite à notre entretien téléphonique du 3 juin, je souhaitais confirmer les points suivants — following our telephone conversation of 3 June, I wanted to confirm the following points
- Elle a ouvert son mail avec 'Suite à notre entretien téléphonique' — j'ai su que j'allais devoir honorer ce que j'avais dit — she opened her email with 'Suite à notre entretien téléphonique' — I knew I was going to have to honour what I had said
“Je me permets de relancer”
'I take the liberty of following up' — the polite French chase email. More apologetic and self-deprecating than the English 'just following up', it frames the sender as someone imposing on your valuable time, even when they are simply asking for a reply that is two weeks overdue. The phrase 'je me permets' (I take the liberty of) is a rhetorical courtesy that softens the implicit accusation: you have not answered.
- Je me permets de relancer suite à mon mail du 28 mai resté sans réponse — I take the liberty of following up on my email of 28 May which has not received a reply
- Désolé de relancer, mais pourriez-vous me confirmer votre disponibilité pour la réunion ? — sorry to chase, but could you confirm your availability for the meeting?
- Après deux relances sans réponse, elle a arrêté de se permettre quoi que ce soit — after two unanswered follow-ups, she stopped taking the liberty of anything
“Bien noté”
'Well noted' — the French email read receipt. A two-word response that can mean genuinely acknowledged, or can be entirely dismissive depending on whether anything happens afterwards. It is the perfect non-committal reply: it confirms receipt, promises nothing, and closes the loop just enough that you cannot say you were ignored. Receiving only 'bien noté' in response to a detailed proposal is not a good sign.
- J'ai envoyé un récapitulatif de dix points. Sa réponse : 'Bien noté.' — I sent a ten-point summary. His reply: 'Bien noté.'
- Bien noté, merci pour l'information — we acknowledge receipt, thank you for the information
- Quand quelqu'un répond juste 'bien noté' à une demande urgente, c'est qu'il n'a pas encore décidé s'il allait le faire — when someone replies just 'bien noté' to an urgent request, it means they haven't decided yet whether they're going to do it
“Je reste à votre disposition”
'I remain at your disposal' — the classic French email closing that signals openness and availability. Said as a matter of form at the end of nearly every professional email, even when the sender is unreachable, on holiday, or simply not planning to answer any follow-up. It is the French equivalent of 'do not hesitate to contact me', which everyone hesitates before, because everyone knows there may be no reply.
- Je reste à votre disposition pour tout renseignement complémentaire — I remain at your disposal for any further information
- Il a terminé avec 'je reste à votre disposition' et n'a pas répondu au suivant — he finished with 'I remain at your disposal' and didn't answer the next one
- Dans un mail formel, on finit toujours par 'je reste à votre disposition' même quand on part en vacances deux heures après — in a formal email you always finish with 'I remain at your disposal' even when you're going on holiday two hours later
“En vous remerciant par avance”
'Thanking you in advance' — the French pre-emptive thank you. By thanking the recipient before they have done anything, the sender subtly frames compliance as already assumed, and refusal as a kind of breach of social contract. It is polite, it is elegant, and it puts a gentle but real pressure on the reader. The more effusive the advance thanks, the more non-negotiable the request.
- En vous remerciant par avance pour votre retour rapide — thanking you in advance for your prompt reply
- En vous remerciant par avance de bien vouloir transmettre ces documents avant vendredi — thanking you in advance for kindly forwarding these documents before Friday
- Elle a mis 'en vous remerciant par avance' — j'ai compris que c'était pas vraiment une question — she put 'thanking you in advance' — I understood it wasn't really a question
“Pour faire suite à”
'Following on from' — the formal way to connect an email to a previous exchange, a meeting, or an earlier commitment. It is thread-keeping as a social act: it reminds the reader of the context, anchors the current request in something already agreed, and makes ignoring it slightly more awkward. More formal and precise than 'suite à', it is often used in writing to someone senior or outside your organisation.
- Pour faire suite à notre réunion du 2 juin, je vous adresse le compte-rendu ci-joint — following on from our meeting of 2 June, I am sending you the attached minutes
- Pour faire suite à votre demande de la semaine dernière, voici les éléments demandés — following on from your request last week, here are the elements you asked for
- Il a commencé par 'pour faire suite à' et j'ai passé trente secondes à me souvenir de quelle réunion il parlait — he started with 'following on from' and I spent thirty seconds trying to remember which meeting he meant
“Mettre en copie / En cc”
To cc someone — putting a person in copy on an email. The politics of who gets copied in a French workplace are significant and carefully read. Copying the boss signals escalation. Copying HR signals something serious. Copying someone without warning is a power move. Being suddenly removed from a cc chain is also a message. The cc list is the org chart in motion.
- Je t'ai mis en copie pour que tu sois au courant, mais c'est Sophie qui gère — I've cc'd you so you're in the loop, but Sophie is handling it
- Il a mis la direction en copie sans prévenir — ça a changé toute la dynamique de l'échange — he cc'd management without warning — it changed the whole dynamic of the exchange
- Si tu veux que ça avance, mets ton responsable en copie — dès qu'il y a un CC hiérarchique, les délais raccourcissent — if you want it to move forward, cc your manager — as soon as there's a cc up the hierarchy, timelines shorten
“Voir avec”
'Check with' or 'sort it out with' — the French email delegation move. 'Je vous invite à voir ça avec Sophie' means the sender is removing themselves from the equation and redirecting you to someone else. It sounds collaborative. It is often a way of passing the problem on. The recipient of a 'voir avec' email is now responsible for chasing Sophie, explaining the context, and absorbing any resulting friction.
- Pour la facturation, je vous invite à voir ça directement avec le service comptable — for invoicing, I'd invite you to sort that directly with the accounts department
- Je ne suis pas en charge de ce dossier — il faudrait voir avec Malik — I'm not in charge of this file — you'd need to check with Malik
- J'ai reçu un mail de sa part me disant de voir avec trois personnes différentes — I got an email from him telling me to check with three different people
“Au plus vite”
'As quickly as possible' — the French ASAP. More polite than 'immediately' or 'urgently', but the urgency is real. It is used when the sender does not want to seem demanding but genuinely needs a fast response. In an email, 'au plus vite' without any other context means: this is not optional, but I am too well-mannered to say so bluntly.
- Merci de me faire parvenir votre validation au plus vite — thank you for sending me your approval as quickly as possible
- Pourriez-vous traiter ce dossier au plus vite ? Le client attend une réponse — could you process this file as quickly as possible? The client is waiting for an answer
- 'Au plus vite' dans un mail de la direction, ça veut dire ce soir au plus tard — 'au plus vite' in an email from management means tonight at the latest
“Sans nouvelles de votre part”
'Without news from you' — the French ghost follow-up. The full construction is usually 'sans nouvelles de votre part d'ici le [date], je me permettrai de…' — 'without news from you by [date], I will take the liberty of…' — which typically means the matter will be treated as approved, closed, or escalated. It is the polite French version of the ultimatum: give me an answer, or I will proceed as if you already did.
- Sans nouvelles de votre part d'ici vendredi, je considérerai votre accord comme acquis — without news from you by Friday, I will consider your agreement as given
- Sans nouvelles de votre part, nous procéderons à la clôture du dossier — without news from you, we will proceed with closing the file
- Elle a mis 'sans nouvelles de votre part' dans sa relance — c'est la version polie de 'répondez ou je fais ce que je veux' — she put 'sans nouvelles de votre part' in her follow-up — it's the polite version of 'reply or I do what I want'
