Lesson 20: Addressing a business email

Addressing a business email - Starting and ending a business email

Vocabulary

À l'attention de Monsieur Dubois,

Dear Mr Dubois,

Madame, Monsieur

Dear Sir/ Madam

À qui de droit

To whom it may concern

Merci pour votre e-mail.

Thank you for your email.

Merci de m’avoir répondu.

Thank you for getting back to me.

Cordialement

Kind regards

Bien cordialement

Best regards

Je vous prie d’agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.

Yours sincerely

Here's a tip

Writing a business email is an important skill and in this lesson we're going to learn lots of phrases for structuring one. First, we'll concentrate on how to start and finish a business email. We'll learn language such as: Madame, Monsieur, (Dear Sir/ Madam,) À qui de droit. (To whom it may concern) Merci pour votre e-mail. (Thank you for your email.)

There are several ways to address the person you are writing to: If you're writing to an organisation rather than a specific individual, start with Madame, Monsieur. When addressing a client or someone you have already met: Bonjour Madame / Bonjour Monsieur Dubois (surname). When addressing a colleague you know well: Bonjour Eloy ( first name).

When replying to a previous email, it's very common to thank that person for contacting you. We can use one of the following sentences. Merci pour votre e-mail. (Thank you for your email.) Merci de m'avoir contacté. (Thank you for contacting me.) Merci de m'avoir répondu. (Thank you for getting back to me.) Merci de votre réponse rapide. (Thank you for your prompt reply.)

The final step is to close the email. We can do this with any of the examples below. Cordialement (Kind regards) - neutral; acceptable in most situations. Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. (Yours sincerely) - formal; when you do not use the recipient's name in the greeting. Merci ! (Thanks / Cheers) - informal; use only with people you know.

Let's have another look at the expressions we've learned, which you can use in any business email: Madame, Monsieur, (Dear Sir/ Madam,) À qui de droit. (To whom it may concern) Merci pour votre e-mail. (Thank you for your email.) Merci de m'avoir répondu. (Thank you for getting back to me.) Merci de votre réponse rapide. (Thank you for your prompt reply.) Cordialement, (Kind regards) Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. (Yours sincerely)

Let's see how your email might look: Bonjour Monsieur Dubois, Merci pour votre réponse rapide. Ce lundi à 14h00 marche très bien pour moi. J'espère avoir bientôt de vos nouvelles. cordialement, Amélie Carte