Semi-formal valedictions in emails

Question

How does one respectfully sign off semi-formal (e.g. business) emails without going for the full blown “Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes sentiments distingués.” etc.?

See also: http://french.stackexchange.com/questions/757/quelle-formule-de-politesse-doit-on-utiliser-a-la-fin-des-documents — Stéphane Gimenez, Nov 19 '12 at 17:25

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 17 '11 at 21:05

17

In business or university context, I tend to use:

Cordialement,

Moreover, if I am thankful and want to convey this stronger feeling, I use:

Bien cordialement,

answered Aug 17 '11 at 21:05

Wok

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I would complete by saying "Bien cordialement", is generally reservated for more formal discussions. (Student, teacher...) – Zenklys Aug 17 '11 at 21:16
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To add on Zenlys comment: when the student writes to the teacher, he can write "Bien cordialement à vous". It formal and respectful, but not too much. – Sylvain Peyronnet Aug 17 '11 at 22:20

score 13 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 19 '12 at 18:07

13

I often use the adverb for cordial:

Cordialement,
<Here my email signature>

For an “almost friend but not really friend”, I use something similar to kindly:

Amicalement,
<Here my email signature>

edited Nov 19 '12 at 18:07

Stéphane Gimenez

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answered Aug 17 '11 at 21:05

martiall

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score 8 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 14 '13 at 11:46

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I often use:

Bien à vous

or:

Bien à toi

which is closer to Yours truly I guess.

edited Jun 14 '13 at 11:46

Stéphane Gimenez

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answered Aug 17 '11 at 21:00

Laurent Pireyn

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I personally use Bien à vous too when I write an email in French – Aug 17 '11 at 21:06
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I find bien à toi disturbingly direct at the same time as formal. I'd reserve it to very close people, if to use it at all. – Nikana Reklawyks Nov 19 '12 at 18:36
In short e-mail exchanges with a business contact you know more personally, you can also use "Bàv" or "Bàt", which are abbreviations for "bien à vous" et "bien à toi". – Greg Sep 13 '17 at 16:22

score 6 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:38

6

Taking the first few mails in my inbox, we have:

Bonne journée,

Bonne fin de semaine,

Cordialement,

Quite often, nothing.

But mostly, as this is the one included in the official company signature:

Meilleures salutations,

edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:38

Community

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answered Aug 18 '11 at 11:10

Benjol

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Define good for salutations !? (It sounds contrived to me.) – Nikana Reklawyks Nov 19 '12 at 18:39

Semi-formal valedictions in emails

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