Mission: write a formal email or letter
Formal writing with vous: openings, a purpose sentence, polite requests in the conditional and closing formulas. Sound polite, clear and professional.
FrenchB1 · Exam levelAbout 7 min: 4 reading, 3 practiceUpdated
- Open and close a formal email or letter correctly
- State your purpose with je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de…
- Make polite requests with pourriez-vous, j'aimerais and serait-il possible de
- Keep vous and a formal tone from start to finish
B1 exam skills: lesson 2 of 5
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Level Level B1 (around the DELF B1 exam). Real French: writing to a school, a company or an office to ask for information.
What it is
Your mission: Inès Lambert works in a bookshop in Rennes and would like to take a beginners' photography course at the local arts centre, but she works on weekdays. She doesn't know anyone there. Write her email: ask whether the course can be taken on a Saturday morning, what it costs, what equipment she needs and whether there are places left.
A formal email or letter has a fixed frame, and the frame does half the work:
| Part | Useful French |
|---|---|
| 1. Subject line (email) | Objet : renseignements sur le cours de… |
| 2. Opening | Madame, Monsieur, / Madame Durand, |
| 3. Purpose | Je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de… |
| 4. Details and requests | Pourriez-vous… ? J'aimerais savoir si… Serait-il possible de… ? |
| 5. Thanks | Je vous remercie par avance de votre réponse. |
| 6. Closing | Je vous prie d'agréer… / Cordialement / Bien cordialement |
Polite requests use the conditional, which you already know from asking for things politely:
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pourriez-vous + infinitive | could you…? |
| j'aimerais / je souhaiterais + infinitive | I would like to… |
| serait-il possible de + infinitive | would it be possible to…? |
| je vous serais reconnaissant(e) de + infinitive | I would be grateful if you would… |
Vous throughout. Never slip into tu, and no slang or abbreviations: bonjour, not salut; je voudrais, not je veux.
Closings. Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées is the full formula, used in letters and in formal emails. In everyday work emails, Cordialement or Bien cordialement is normal and shorter.
More detail: a letter on paper
A paper letter has the same frame, with a few extras: your name and address at the top left, the recipient's name and address on the right, then the place and date (Rennes, le 27 octobre 2026), then Objet :, then the body. Sign with your name, handwritten above the typed one. An email needs only the Objet line and your name at the end.
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
Which sentence states your purpose?
- That is the closing
- That thanks the reader at the end
Show answer
Je me permets de vous écrire au sujet du cours de photographie.. je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de… opens the body with your purpose.
Why it matters
Formal French is what you need when it counts: asking a school for information, writing to a landlord, applying for a course, complaining to a company. The reader doesn't know you, so the frame, the vous and the polite conditional are your first impression. A clear, polite email with a precise purpose usually gets a clear, polite answer.
Worked example
Inès's email (our own example):
Objet : Renseignements sur le cours de photographie
Madame, Monsieur,
Je me permets de vous écrire au sujet du cours de photographie pour débutants, qui commence en octobre au centre culturel.
Je travaille dans une librairie du lundi au vendredi. Serait-il possible de suivre ce cours le samedi matin ? Pourriez-vous également m'indiquer le prix de l'inscription, ainsi que le matériel dont j'aurai besoin ?
Par ailleurs, j'aimerais savoir s'il reste des places et si je peux m'inscrire en ligne.
Je vous remercie par avance de votre réponse et reste à votre disposition pour tout renseignement complémentaire.
Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.
Inès Lambert
107 words, counting the subject line, the greeting and the signature (the three punctuation marks that stand alone, a colon and two question marks, are not counted). It follows the frame: subject, opening, purpose, requests, thanks, closing.
Real French: Cordialement is the most common closing in everyday professional emails, and Bien cordialement is slightly warmer. The long Je vous prie d'agréer… formula is kept for more formal situations, such as a first letter to an institution.
Common mistake
Being too direct: wrong: Je veux savoir le prix and wrong: Dites-moi les horaires sound like demands. Use the conditional: J'aimerais savoir le prix or Pourriez-vous m'indiquer les horaires ?
And mixing registers, such as an opening with Madame, Monsieur and then wrong: Peux-tu me répondre ? Once you start with vous, keep it until the signature: Pourriez-vous me répondre ?
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
You want to ask for the price in a formal email. Which is right?
- Correct grammar, but a demand rather than a polite request
- tu is wrong for someone you do not know
Show answer
Pourriez-vous m'indiquer le prix de l'inscription ?. pourriez-vous + infinitive is polite and uses vous.
Key terms
- je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de…
- I am writing to you about…
- Madame, Monsieur,
- Dear Sir or Madam, (opening to an unknown person)
- pourriez-vous… ?
- could you…?
- serait-il possible de… ?
- would it be possible to…?
- je vous remercie par avance
- thank you in advance
- je reste à votre disposition
- I remain at your disposal (if you need more information)
- je vous prie d'agréer…
- yours faithfully (formal closing)
- cordialement / bien cordialement
- kind regards / best regards
- l'objet
- the subject (line)
Practise the key terms
Tap a card to turn it over. 9 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de… | I am writing to you about… |
| Madame, Monsieur, | Dear Sir or Madam, (opening to an unknown person) |
| pourriez-vous… ? | could you…? |
| serait-il possible de… ? | would it be possible to…? |
| je vous remercie par avance | thank you in advance |
| je reste à votre disposition | I remain at your disposal (if you need more information) |
| je vous prie d'agréer… | yours faithfully (formal closing) |
| cordialement / bien cordialement | kind regards / best regards |
| l'objet | the subject (line) |
Practice
Sort it
Which part of a formal email is it?
Madame, Monsieur,
it greets an unknown readerShow answer
Opening. it greets an unknown reader
Pourriez-vous m'indiquer le prix ?
conditional with vousShow answer
Request. conditional with vous
Bien cordialement,
it ends the emailShow answer
Closing. it ends the email
Serait-il possible de venir le samedi ?
a polite questionShow answer
Request. a polite question
Je vous prie d'agréer l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.
the full formulaShow answer
Closing. the full formula
Quick quiz
Tap an answer to check it.
You do not know the reader's name. Which is the right opening?
- Far too informal
- Only for close friends
Show answer
Madame, Monsieur,. Madame, Monsieur, is the standard opening to an unknown reader.
Which closing fits a first letter to an institution?
- A closing for friends and family
- Slang, for friends
Show answer
Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.. the full formula is kept for formal situations.
You want to ask whether a place is still available. Which sentence is polite?
- Too direct for a formal email
- tu and an order
Show answer
J'aimerais savoir s'il reste des places.. j'aimerais + infinitive is the polite conditional.
Build the sentence
Build the purpose sentence. (Start with the purpose formula.)
Show answer
Je me permets de vous écrire au sujet du cours de photographie.. Je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de + the topic.
Practise speaking
Studyfern has no voice tools of its own. To practise out loud, copy this prompt into a voice-capable AI assistant and talk with it.
Mission role-play. You are Madame Durand, who reads the emails sent to the enrolment office of a small arts centre in Rennes, and also my writing coach. Speak naturally but clearly, at level B1, using vous. This is a written exchange: I will dictate my formal email to you sentence by sentence, as if typing it. After each sentence, tell me in English if I have made a mistake in register (tu or je veux instead of vous and the conditional) or in the polite formulas, and let me try again. When my email is complete, reply as the office would, briefly and with a small surprise (for example, the Saturday class is full but there is a Sunday one), one question at a time. When I have introduced my purpose with je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de… and made three polite requests in the conditional, say « Mission accomplie ! » and give me one tip. Keep every reply under 3 sentences.
Listen too. Listen to native speakers before and after: see the free listening and shadowing links.
Good to know. AI feedback on pronunciation is hit and miss, so check yourself against native recordings. Many assistants turn your speech into text first, so a vowel or liaison you got wrong may be silently “heard” as the right word. Don't share personal details: use a made-up name and town.
New to this? Read Practising speaking with an AI.
In short
- Frame: subject line, opening, purpose, requests, thanks, closing.
- Open with Madame, Monsieur, (or the person's name); state your purpose with je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de…
- Make requests in the conditional: pourriez-vous, j'aimerais, serait-il possible de.
- Vous from the first word to the signature.
- Close with Je vous prie d'agréer… (formal) or Cordialement / Bien cordialement.
Mastery check
Answer without looking back. Score 80% or more and the lesson is marked done. Your result is kept only in this browser.
Check yourself
Answer in your head first, then open the answer. Nothing is saved.
Which sentence states your purpose in a formal email?
Show answer
Je me permets de vous écrire au sujet de…
Make this polite: « Je veux savoir le prix. »
Show answer
J'aimerais savoir le prix. (or: Pourriez-vous m'indiquer le prix ?)
Give a short closing for an everyday work email.
Show answer
Cordialement. (or: Bien cordialement.)
Further reading
- France Éducation international, DELF B1: the official exam format and sample papers.
- TV5MONDE, Apprendre le français: exercises on formal and informal registers.
Finished? Mark it done to fill in your leaf on the French map.