You wanted to confirm Tuesday. Somehow, you are now choosing between three ways of expressing your most distinguished regards.

Writing a professional email in French gets easier when you make a few decisions before the first sentence: who you are writing to, what you need, and what they should do next. Then choose a greeting and closing that fit your relationship.

Below, you’ll find complete French business email examples, the replies you might receive, English meanings and pronunciation à l’oreille. We’ll arrange a meeting, request a document, follow up and handle a more formal enquiry. There are interactive exercises, too. Your inbox has kindly supplied the syllabus.

How to use the examples: read the French message first. Open its “Meaning & pronunciation” panel when you need help, then read it aloud. The names and situations are fictional teaching examples. Replace them, the dates and the commitments with your own details.

The pronunciation cues are a starting aid, not IPA or an audio recording. oo sounds like English “food”; zh is the sound in “measure”; ew represents French u: say “ee” with rounded lips, without adding a “y”. ahn, ohn and ehn suggest nasal vowels: avoid a full English “n”. You are reading an email aloud to practise language you can also use in a meeting or call.

How do you start and end a professional email in French?

For a new client, supplier, colleague or institutional contact, begin with polite language. Familiarity can develop later; it does not have to arrive in the subject line.

Use a person’s known title when it matters. If you do not know which title to use, a simple hello avoids guessing. First names and polite address can coexist: using someone’s first name does not automatically mean switching to familiar French.

The OQLF’s guide to email greetings is a useful institutional reference for choosing an opening according to the relationship. It is published in Québec; the examples here focus on everyday professional correspondence in France.

Use vous consistently

Both refer to “you”, but they do different jobs. For a new professional contact, use the polite form throughout the email. A team may use familiar French internally; follow the relationship you actually have with that person.

The first request uses the polite conditional. The second is natural between people who already use familiar address. Keep the greeting, pronoun and request in the same register.

Choose a closing that fits the message

A long ceremonial closing can suit a formal first letter or enquiry. An ordinary exchange about the meeting link usually needs something shorter. For broader workplace situations, read my guide to French professional etiquette.

Example 1: arrange a meeting, then handle a different time

Alex is coordinating a project and wants an online meeting with Camille Laurent, a new professional contact. They use polite French. The useful skill is following the proposed time through the whole exchange.

The opening gives the topic, then asks a specific question. The subject line tells the reader what kind of message it is. OQLF’s guidance on subject lines recommends a clear, informative subject with important information near the beginning.

For an actual booking, add the calendar date and the time zone if you work across countries. “Tuesday” is considerably less useful after the email has spent a week in someone’s inbox.

The reply declines Tuesday and proposes Thursday at 15:00, or 3 p.m. Read for the change before drafting your thanks. A polite answer that confirms the wrong day is still the wrong appointment.

Repeating the agreed day and time makes the next step clear. The final sentence also commits Alex to sending the invitation; use it only if you will actually do that.

If your message turns into a phone conversation, the French for receptionists guide gives useful language for checking appointments and taking messages.

Example 2: request a document and respond to the attachment

Alex is organising a workshop for a team. The first task is getting the programme; the reply will introduce a second task.

The request names the document and explains why it is useful. The polite conditional softens the request while keeping it clear. For more words connected to projects, colleagues and office life, use the Business French vocabulary guide.

There are two things to notice: registration closes on Friday, and Camille needs a headcount. A general thank-you would leave that question unanswered.

Alex confirms both the number and the registration. If the team has not decided yet, give the information you can confirm and say when you will provide the rest.

What if the attachment will not open?

Name the problem, then make the next action easy. When sending a file, mention it in the email and give it a recognisable filename. OQLF’s attachment guidance covers both points. A filename such as Workshop-programme-March.pdf is much easier to find later than final-final-2.pdf.

Example 3: write a follow-up email with a clear deadline

Alex is waiting for meeting notes needed before Thursday. A useful follow-up names the outstanding item, the deadline and the reason. There is no universal number of days to wait: consider the date already agreed, the urgency and the working relationship.

The opening is a professional way to return to an existing topic. The next sentence makes the timing explicit. If you agreed a delivery date earlier, refer to that date rather than adding a general “urgent”.

Pause before replying: does this meet Alex’s deadline? Camille promises Thursday morning. Alex asked for the document before Thursday. The polite wording has not resolved the scheduling problem.

Try writing the next message in exercise 3. You will ask for a draft version that can arrive sooner.

Example 4: a more formal email to an institution

You do not know who will handle an initial enquiry about a training course. This version uses a more formal opening and closing, while keeping the request readable.

The final sentence is a conventional formal sign-off; translate its function rather than each individual word. The OQLF closing guide includes both short and long options. Follow an institution’s own correspondence instructions when it provides them.

For diplomatic, EU or NGO work, institutional titles and the purpose of the message can affect the register. My French for diplomats, EU and NGO professionals offers practice adapted to those roles.

Four small traps that change your professional email

1. A request can sound like an instruction

This is grammatical and may fit an instruction within an established working relationship. For a first request to a new contact, use the polite conditional shown above. “Please” translated in your head does not change the French verb you actually wrote.

2. “Currently” and “actually” are different

This says what you are working on now. It does not mean “actually”. When you want to correct or clarify a point, choose a sentence that expresses the correction, rather than translating the English adverb automatically.

3. Attending and waiting are different actions

The first sentence confirms attendance. The second says you are waiting. They do rather different things to a meeting invitation.

4. “Before Thursday” and “by Thursday” need different wording

The first asks for delivery before Thursday begins. The second allows Thursday; the third specifies a Thursday deadline before noon. If timing matters, include the date and time zone too.

Professional French emails: six quick practice questions

Choose the reply or detail that fits the situation. Check the explanation, then try writing the final email yourself. Your inbox has supplied quite enough plot twists for one lesson.

Now adapt one exchange to a task you need to do: choose your recipient, document or meeting, then imagine a reply that changes the plan. Write your next message as well as your first.

A quick check before you press send

• Purpose: can the reader identify what you need from the subject and first lines?
• Relationship: do your greeting, pronouns and closing fit the same person?
• Action: have you asked a question the recipient can answer?
• Details: are the date, time, time zone, name and attachment correct?
• Reply: have you answered the question they actually asked?
• Commitment: can you do what your message promises?

Read it once aloud. You will often hear the sentence that has tried to carry three separate requests home at once.

Useful institutional references and further practice

For another task-based activity, the CCI Paris Île-de-France’s Le français des affaires provides a free A2 worksheet on replying to a meeting proposal (PDF). It is a separate resource with its own examples and answers.

For reference while writing, use the OQLF pages linked above for greetings, closings, subject lines and attachments. They are more useful than a mysterious list of rules with nobody’s name attached.

To continue with Feel Good French, practise the professional vocabulary or explore French workplace etiquette.