Is there a French equivalent for "FYI" (for your information)?

Question

I understand that the French translation of "for your information" is "pour votre information", but is the acronym PVI used?

It depends on the country. French is spoken in France, Canada and a few african countries. You will get contradictory answers. In Geneva for instance (bordering France) I always see "pour information" in full. — Florian F, Oct 21 '22 at 16:38

score 24 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 18 '22 at 15:11

24

I've never seen “pour votre information” abbreviated as “PVI”. If I saw “PVI”, I don't think I would guess what it means.

“Pour votre information” is commonly abbreviated to “pour info”, both in informal speech and in informal writing. It's common in corporate emails or chat (when formality isn't required).

answered Oct 18 '22 at 15:11

Gilles 'SO nous est hostile'

56,258
8
109
229

5

"Pour information" est parfois abbrégé "PI" (vu dans des courriels). Jamais vu PVI, en revanche. – XouDo Oct 19 '22 at 07:38
People would be far more likely to write FYI if they know English, and you could expect some people to understand it. Not very French, though. – Pierre Arlaud Oct 19 '22 at 11:51
Aussi PTI (Pour Ton Information) – Michael Harvey Oct 19 '22 at 18:06

score 14 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 18 '22 at 18:28

14

Pour votre information

works; in most contexts you could also shorten it to:

Pour information.

In contexts where it's used with a colon at the start of a sentence (for example, "FYI: there is a conference on flying sausages [...]), you could simply use,

Information : il y a une conférence sur les saucisses volantes [...]

As far as using the acronym PVI is concerned, I think it's a lot more rare in French; I've never seen it myself. However, there is a wikipedia page that references it, and it's also reference a few random places on the web. I didn't succeed in finding an actual dictionary reference, so probably better to avoid using it unless you're really cramped for space - it's more likely to cause confusion than anything else.

edited Oct 18 '22 at 18:28

ninja米étoilé

8,310
1
14
36

answered Oct 18 '22 at 13:16

anonymous2

993
2
11
28

13

In casual conversation, "pour ton/votre information" is usually shortened as "pour info". – AdrienF Oct 19 '22 at 10:22
17

Never seen "PVI" in my entire life. Please don't use it. – Pierre Arlaud Oct 19 '22 at 11:50
'PVI (Pour votre information) : Le message est à titre indicatif et aucune action n’est attendue de la part des destinataires. https://jacquesbizard.ecoleouestmtl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Guide-des-bonnes-pratiques-du-courriel.pdf – Michael Harvey Oct 19 '22 at 18:05

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 19 '22 at 06:52

6

pi is quite often used in my company at least

answered Oct 19 '22 at 06:52

Jérôme U

69
1

Fosfor · Answer 4 · 2022-10-19T11:21:14.707

4

The abbreviation "PI" is very often used in business conversations.

edited Oct 19 '22 at 11:21

answered Oct 19 '22 at 11:20

Fosfor

49
3

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 19 '22 at 06:47

1

There is not an exact French equivalent for FYI, but a similar phrase would be "pour votre information" or "PVI."

answered Oct 19 '22 at 06:47

user31460

19
1

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 20 '22 at 20:02

0

It certainly depends on the environment, but I always use "FYI" and see it used that way. At least in business/technology, this is one of these things that sneakily crawled into our language.

answered Oct 20 '22 at 20:02

WoJ

785
4
12

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 21 '22 at 08:53

0

I've heard « pour ta gouverne » as well, but I believe this is soutenu.

answered Oct 21 '22 at 08:53

Derek Allums

1,526
5
13

2

Yes and no ... "Pour ta gouverne" also means FYI (not often seen in writting), however it is mostly condescending ("I'm telling you this info because it seems you're too dumb to know it") and not particularly soutenu – tarulen Oct 21 '22 at 11:49

Is there a French equivalent for "FYI" (for your information)?

7 Answers7