French word for email

The Académie Française (French Academy) chose courriel, pronounced «koo ryehl» as the official French word for «email,» but that doesn’t necessarily mean the French person on the street uses it.

Courriel is an amalgamation of courrier and electronique created in French-speaking Canada as a portmanteau word—a word that combines the meaning of two words, formed usually by joining the first part of one word and the last part of the other, as with courriel (courri, from courrier, plus el, from electronique). The creation of courriel was promoted by the Office Québécois de la langue Française and endorsed by the Académie Française.

Courriel is a singular masculine noun (plural: courriels) signifying internet email, both the message and the system. Synonyms are: mél (email message), message électronique (electronic message), and messagerie électronique (the system of electronic messaging).

Usage and Expressions With «Courriel»

Courriel, c’est officiel. > Courriel, it’s official.

envoyer qqch par courriel > to email something

adresse courriel > email address

chaîne de courriel > email chain

appâtage par courriel > [email] phishing

hameçonnage par courriel > [email] phishing

publipostage électronique / envoi de courriels > email blast

courriel web > web email, web-based email

Elle m’a envoyé un courriel ce matin. > She sent me an email this morning.

Assurez-vous de fournir la bonne adresse de courriel lors de votre commande. > Please be sure to provide the correct email address when placing your order.

Votre nom: Votre courriel: Courriel du destinataire: Sujet: Activités à venir >
Your name: Your email address: Recipient email address: Subject: Upcoming Events

Adresse courriel: communications@providencehealth.bc.ca > Email address: communications@providencehealth.bc.ca

The French Academy and Courriel

The Académie Française, created in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, is charged with defining the French language and elaborating it in its dictionary, which fixes French usage. The Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française is…a prescriptivist dictionary, recording the ways in which French words should be used. 

The primary role of the Académie Française is to regulate the French language by determining standards of acceptable grammar and vocabulary, as well as adapting to linguistic change by adding new words and updating the meanings of existing ones. Since the French have borrowed a large number of English words, especially for new technology, the Académie’s task tends to be focused on lessening the influx of English terms into French by choosing or inventing French equivalents.

Officially, the Academy’s charter states, «The primary function of the Academy will be to work, with all possible care and diligence, to give our language definite rules and to make it pure, eloquent, and capable of dealing with art and science.»

The Academy fulfills this mission by publishing an official dictionary and by working with French terminological committees and other specialized organizations. The dictionary is not sold to the general public, so the Académie’s work must be incorporated into society by the creation of laws and regulations by these organizations.

The Academy Chooses ‘Courriel’ for ‘Email’

Perhaps the most famous example of this occurred when the Académie chose «courriel» as the official translation of «email.» The move to ban email was announced in mid-2003 after the decision was published in the official government register. «Courriel» thus became the term that official France used in official documents to refer to electronic mail. 

The Academy does all this with the expectation that French speakers will take these new regulations into consideration, and in this way, a common linguistic heritage can theoretically be maintained among French speakers around the world.

In reality, this does not always happen with the words the Academy promotes, including for courriel, which doesn’t seem to have caught on in everyday French to the extent the Academy had hoped.

Has «Courriel» Caught on in France?

Courriel continues to be used in official government documents, as well as by companies working with the administration, by opponents of Franglais (French corrupted by the addition of too many English words), and by the older population.

But colloquially, most French speakers still say «email» (just as they talk about «foot» and «basket» instead of «football» and «basketball»), «mail,» or «mél» (a portmanteau of «message electronique»). The latter is favored by the same people who use courriel. In France, the word courriel does not sound correct to most French, and mél does not sound as weird. Mél is also a comfortable​ counterpart to the abbreviation «Tél.» used for the telephone number field on official documents.

In Quebec, where courriel was created, people don’t like using English words in French, and English words are less common than in France. So they create words like courriel, which they use frequently, even in colloquial contexts.

Ultimately, the fact that some of the French in France have adopted courriel makes it a moderate success there, compared to the words the Academy created to replace blog, web, and chat, which have faded into the distant mists of memory.

Talking about the Internet in French can be confusing. There’s a mix of vocabulary borrowed from English and new terms in French. It can also be hard to know how to say any symbol whether it’s just numbers or “@” (arobase). Then there’s learning how to type using un clavier AZERTY!

Writing and sending emails is another area that can complicate things. A common word for email in French is mail, and even after I knew that I would still get confused. Hearing the English word immediately made me think of a physical address rather than an email address!

One time when I needed to buy de l’assurance (some insurance) and la sécretaire was asking for my information I mixed up the French mail and the English mail pretty badly. Everything was fine until she asked me:

– Et votre adresse mail ?
– Ah oui. J’habite…

And your email address?
Ah yes. I live on…

She looked at me like I was crazy as I began giving her une adresse postale (a postal address). I didn’t even realize I had made a mistake as she began to explain:

– Non, non. J’ai besoin de votre adresse mail. Vous nous avez déjà donné votre adresse postale.
– Adresse mail ?
– Oui, pour que nous puissions vous envoyer des mails concernant votre compte.
– Pour m’envoyer du courrier ?
– Non, des mails.
– Ce n’est pas où j’habite ?
– Non… c’est sur Internet…
– Ooooh ! Oooooh ! Je comprends ! Désolé ! Oui, mon adresse mail est….

No, no. I need your email address. You already gave us your postal address.
Email address?
Yes, so that we can send you emails about your account.
To send me mail?
No, emails.
It’s not where I live?
Non… It’s on the Internet…
Ooooh! Oooooh! I understand! Sorry! Yes, my email address is…

I don’t know who was more confused while I struggled to understand mail as email. I did know that I would be sure not to confuse the two words again!

There are other words to refer to email in French and if you are ever in a similar situation you can ask if they want your addresse électronique or courrier électronique to be sure that you are saying the right thing.

Another word that’s often used au Québec is courriel, which is un mot-valise (a portmanteau) of courrier and électronique.

It’s also possible to see and hear email, e-mail or mél.

Have you ever run into trouble with des faux amis (false friends) in French? Let me know in un commentaire below!

A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE

Simple comme bonjour?

    by Kristi Espinasse

If only greetings were, as the French say, simple comme bonjour. It takes me many a hem-n-haw moment, staring at the computer screen, to decide just how to greet someone in an email. Isn’t «Bonjour» a bit predictable? Why not spice things up with «Salut!»? Or, better yet, «Coucou!»? On second thought, «Hey there!» might be too informal when emailing someone for the first time….

«Cher.» Now there’s a start! «Cher» (or «Chère) is a perfectly respectable way of greeting a fellow internaut. Though the «cher» salutational might be somewhat stuffy or overly sentimental—it’s safe!

The bad news is, there just isn’t much to choose from on the Gallic Greetings Menu. With so many ways to say «goodbye,» you’d think there’d be more ways to say «Hi!» Would we be stretching things to include «Allô!» to our list? (Allô is more of a question than a salutation. Besides, its usage is reserved for telephoning.)
.
THE CHEAT-GREET
So sometimes I cheat-greet. That is, I refer to the sender’s mél… to see how they began their letter. I’m always surprised to see that it began with «Bonjour.» So simple… Why didn’t I think of it? Well, as my husband sometimes says to me, «Why be simple when you can be complicated?»

Because Complicated is my middle name, which brings us to word order: first, middle, and last. Just where does one squeeze in one’s French greeting? After all, those French are known to re-arrange word order, foiling us language learners every time! So why should a «simple bonjour» be any different?

The answer is, of course, that the cart goes before the horse, so that we, for example, «Salut Simone» and not the other way around (one doesn’t write «Simone Salut», does one?). One could argue that in the second case we are, effectively, doing the «Simone Salut,» or saying a ceremonious «hello» to our dear friend, Simone… so why the big deal about word order? 

REBONJOUR
When one is behind the horse AND the cart, that is, when the greeter has already passed by with his greeting, only to return again (like when you are writing for the second time in one day to the same address), that leaves us with the wonderfully original «Rebonjour.» Hot diggety dog! One more precious entrée on our French Greeting Menu. Few and far between are the occasions for me to feel superior, so the least I can do is feel slightly smug when pointing out (if only to Self) that the email sender, who already wrote me this morning, is writing  again—but with an ultra-gaffeuse «hi»! In France, one doesn’t repeat-greet (or say «Bonjour» two times in one day). One «Rebonjours». (Rebonjour, Simone!)

Finally, some people leave out that salutatory «something» altogether. Take my husband, for example. When emailing me, he never writes «bonjour,» «salut,» or even «hiya». And forget «Chère»! He doesn’t use my first name either, as others unkeen on two- and three-word greetings might. He simply calls me….

(Attendez un moment, you don’t really expect me to share Jean-Marc’s term of endearment for me, do you? After all, there are limits to even online journals.) 

Bon, time to sign off… Now do we end with au revoir? or à bientôt? or how about amicalement?  There are just so many ways to say goodbye in French!

FRENCH VOCABULARY
simple comme bonjour = easy as «hello»
cher (chère) = dear
Allô = Hello?
le mél (m) = abbreviation for «messagerie électronique» (e-mail) a.k.a. «le courriel»
Why be simple when you can be complicated = Pourquoi faire simple quand tu peux faire compliqué?
gaffeuse (gaffeur) = blunderous
attendez un moment = wait just a moment