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Register and formality

Writing at the level of formality a federal workplace expects: neutral or formal in notes and letters, never familiar, and never stiff for its own sake.

What shifts the register

Familiar words (le boss, la job, gérer ça), spoken forms (on for nous in a formal letter, a dropped ne in a negation) and relaxed spellings of speech (y a) have no place in a note or a letter.

The neutral register uses precise, everyday standard words: le gestionnaire, le poste, s’occuper de ce dossier. The formal register adds complete constructions and courteous formulas, without piling up rare words.

Correspondence conventions

Address the reader as vous. Open with Madame, or Monsieur, and close with a formula that matches, such as Veuillez agréer, Madame, mes salutations distinguées. In an email, Bonjour Madame and Cordialement are accepted.

Keep the written form of a question, too: inversion (Pourriez-vous confirmer…?) or est-ce que, not a statement with a question mark (Vous pouvez confirmer?).

Examples

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