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| tinkerb | Sunday 13th of March 2005 07:49:16 AM |
| Cultural Language Question -
I thought this might be nice for those people, like me, who are working on language exchanges or e-pals with native French speakers. :) What is an appropriate way to start off a letter (formal and informal) in French? What is a good way of closing a letter (formal and informal)? Do the French ever write "XXOO" at the end of their letters? If yes/no, what would this mean to a native French speaker? | |
| Mery | Tuesday 15th of March 2005 09:42:53 PM |
| - Salut Tinkerb,
You asked very good questions. I'll try to answer them ;) 1. [b]What is an appropriate way to start off a letter (formal and informal) in French? [/b] If you have to write a formal letter to a male, you'll have to use 'cher' at the beginning of your letter. E.g. = cher Monsieur Dupont If the person you want to write to is a female, use 'chère' E.g.= chère Madame Dupont I don't advise you to use 'cher and chère' in an informal letter. Just write the name of the person: E.g. = Pierre, or start off your letter with a greeting: E.g. = bonjour Pierre, coucou Pierre, salut Pierre, (I use 'coucou' a lot!) 2. [b]What is a good way of closing a letter (formal and informal)?[/b] In formal letters we use very long sentences, they are extremely polite E.g. = veuillez agréer, Monsieur Dupont, l'expression de mes sentiments distingués ==> you can write such a sentence in a letter of application etc. In an informal letter, I don't really know what I'd use *-) I usually close my letter with 'à bientôt' because I don't know what I have to write lol. You could write 'amicalement', but it sounds old-fashioned. 3. [b]Do the French ever write "XXOO" at the end of their letters? If yes/no, what would this mean to a native French speaker?[/b] No, we don't write things like 'XXOO'. I don't even know what it means lol. We usually write 'biz', which means 'kiss'. It's no a real word. 'A+' is also used a lot, it means something like 'see ya'. You can also write 'bye' etc. I hope this can help :) If it's not clear, feel free to ask more questions ;) | |
| tinkerb | Wednesday 16th of March 2005 11:46:55 AM |
| -
Thanks Mery! BTW, in case you did want to know, XXOO is an American way (I'm not able to comment on possible usage in British English) to say "hugs and kisses." It's very informal and usually used with close friends, especially as a letter closing. :P | |
| Mery | Thursday 17th of March 2005 03:38:56 AM |
| - Ok merci Tinkerb, I didn't know that expression. I usually close the letters I write in English with a French expression lol, because I don't know what I'm supposed to write.
Maybe you can help me if a sentence I have to translate in the Phrases section here on PB. Do you know in which context 'love always' is used? Is it a sentence used between lovers or something like that? Merci beaucoup! :) | |
