French Letter Closings

In English correspondence there are a relatively small number of closings (yours truly, yours sincerely, etc.). In French there are a great variety and in formal letters they are generally elaborate; this is perhaps the most difficult area of writing a French letter as one must take into account social conventions rather than simply do a literal translation. Fortunately, the closings all follow the same format, consisting of four parts. The four parts can be roughly translated as the following (I've added the colours to distinguish between the four parts):

<I hope you accept> <recipient's title> <the expression/assurance of> <my respect>

 Following are some example closings, again with colours to show the four parts:

• Veuillez agréer, Madame, l'assurance de mes sentiments distingués
• Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes sentiments distingués
• Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame et Monsieur, l'expression de mes respectueuses salutations

 In more detail, these four parts are:

• A request that you agree or accept the following good wishes. For example: Je vous prie d'agréer (roughly translates to "I pray that you agree")
• The title (e.g. Monsieur) of the person you are writing to. This should match with the opening so if you opened with Monsieur you should also close with Monsieur, if you opened with Messieurs you should then close with Messieurs, and so on.
• The expression or assurance of the following statement.
• A respectful statement.

Options for Closing a French Letter

The following table shows various options for the first, third and fourth part of the closings as described above. The second part, as noted above, is merely the person's title. This should replace the '...' shown in the first column.

For each of the three columns, the phrases are listed from the most formal to the most informal. Consequently, for a close friendship one would normally chose a phrase near the bottom of the column whereas for a formal letter a phrase near the top would be more appropriate. In years past, the phrases near the top of each column were more commonly used. However, a gradual decrease in formality has resulted in this becoming somewhat less common.

The following notes are applicable only to the third column of this table (respectful statement):

1. This phrase should normally not be used when a man is writing to a woman. It is OK for a man writing to a man or a woman writing to a man. This restriction is due to the fact that the word "sentiments", when used from a man to a woman, can also mean romantic feelings. Consequently, unless one has a recognised romantic relationship, it is generally not done for a man to use these phrases when writing to a woman. Having said that, even among the French this restriction is often not followed.
2. This phrase is normally not used by a woman writing to a man. Same issue as above, except in reverse.
3. Some people would consider these phrases pompous. In modern French culture, these would normally be used when writing to someone with a formal and important social role (e.g. the mayor of Paris).
4. These phrases, at the bottom of the column, are the most informal. They would normally be used where there were friendly relations and not in the more formal letters.
5. This phrase is often used when writing to one's boss or a client. The term 'dévoués' translates to 'devoted', confirming one's devotion to work or the client's requirements.

One can make the closing less formal by omitting the phrase in the second column (l'assurance de, l'expression de). If this is done, the 'à' in the first column must also be deleted.

The examples in the above table are written in the first person singular (i.e. a letter from yourself as an individual). If you are writing on behalf of a group or a company, you will likely want to change these expression to the plural. This is done by:

• Replacing 'je' by 'nous' in the first column (only necessary for the first 3 items, the remaining four don not need changes).
• Replacing 'ma', 'mes', and 'mon' by the corresponding plural form
• Changing all verb conjugations to the plural.

Less Formal Closings & Intimate Closings

In less formal letters, there are also a great variety of possible simpler and more intimate closings. For example: Salutations distinguées, Cordialement or Amicalement. With family or close friends possible closings include: Grosses bises, Affectueusement, Je t'embrasse.

EMAILs often have informal closings (e.g. 'Cordialement'), unless the subject of the EMAIL itself is formal. This appears to be related to the general trend to less formality in terms of salutations and closings.

Pre-closings

The closing is often preceded by a phrase, typically asking you to do something or thanking you for having done something. It is simply placed in front of the closing. For example, instead of "Veuillez agréer, Madame, l'assurance de mes sentiments distingués" one could write "Dans l'attente de votre réponse, veuillez agréer, Madame, l'assurance de mes sentiments distingués". Following are some typical examples:

French Language and Letter Writing

For more information on the letter writing click on Writing French Letters. For information on the French language (including free translations), please click on French Language.