# dans les meilleurs délais



## Jean-Michel Carrère

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one 
*Note de la modération : *Ce fil comprend plusieurs fils précédents sur le même thème
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This phrase is not in the dictionary at délai, although it is commonly used in French, especially in business correspondence, as in :

Nous allons vous faire parvenir cet article *dans les meilleurs délais*.

The closest I have got is "we are going to send you the item _as soon as possible_", but I feel there must be a more appropriate and businesslike way of expressing this.

Thanks for your help !


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## josephboen

If you can be more precise with time, you could say "within the next 48 hours" to use an example.


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Thank you, Joseph, but you are evading the issue somewhat, aren't you ? I do not want to specify either a deadline or delivery time.


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## josephboen

I teach professional English for Greta Nord Alsace and "as soon as possible" is perfectly acceptable. You could vary it slightly with "as quickly as possible" which sounds slightly more formal.


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## Aupick

The best I can think of is 'without delay': 'we will send you the item without delay'. But there has to be better...


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## josephboen

Or even better. "We will promptly ship the item." If you are simply describing your services - "We offer prompt delivery."


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Thank you for your prompt  replies.


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## Kelly B

"As soon as possible" is so common in US business usage that, to me, anything else sounds like you're trying too hard.


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## valereval

Kelly B said:
			
		

> "As soon as possible" is so common in US business usage that, to me, anything else sounds like you're trying too hard.


 
*Exactly, they even use ASAP most of the time !!!!!!!!*


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## esperanza2

It depends on your target audience. In US English, it would be more appropriate to say "as soon as possible". Although "as quickly as possible" is fine too. 

"Promptly" might be appropriate for the UK, but as it's an adverb you're faced with the problem of whether it should precede the verb: we will promptly send you the items

or after the verb:
we will send you the items promptly

The first is problematic, as you are splitting the infinitive, and depending with whom you are dealing, it could cause a bad impression, but sometimes it cannot be avoided, and even sounds better.

To sum up, know your target market and adapt.


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## suzi br

if you wanted to adopt an elevated register you could go for "post haste" a really old fashioned phrase from the early days of the postal system - still occasionally used

the online etymology dictionary defines it this way:
posthaste1545, usually said to be from _"post haste"_ instruction formerly written on letters (attested from 1538), from _post _"system for sending mail" + _haste._ The verb _post_ "to ride or travel with great speed" is recorded from 1558. 

one modern online dictionary defines it:
*post-haste • adverb:*
*with great speed. *


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Thank you to you all ! "A charge de revanche", as we say in French.


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## MrMoto

I don't think that "as soon as possible" and "as quickly as possible" are interchangeable:  the first refers to the anticipated delay, and the second refers to the anticipated speed.

Compare:

I will run the race as soon as possible.
I will run the race as quickly as possible.


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## chouchou4484

Good point MrMoto, in your example they are not but they can sometimes (even though I don't have an example in mind right now, I'm sure it will come back later!


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## Parigigi

Bonjour,

quelle est la bonne traduction pour cette expression ?
Within the most brief delay??
Merci !


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## floise

As quickly/soon as possible.


floise


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## Parigigi

Thanks. Is that the most formal version that exists?


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## djara

Aussi: At your earliest convenience.


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## floise

djara said:


> Aussi: At your earliest convenience.



Yes, djara's suggestion is more formal.

floise


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## Shang Qin Li

*We don't have the context*, so two possibilities:
Say that I want to buy a new fridge
1) I go see the salesman, but the fridge I want is not in stock. I pay for it, and want it to be delivered to my home address.
The salesman tells me: I will order it today, and it shouldn't take long before we get it from the factory. We will deliver it to you "_as soon as possible_" (in fact as soon as we receive it) = _dans les meilleurs délais. _I cannot say when
2) Now. It is in stock. The salesman asks me "we will deliver it at your earliest convenience" = _dans les meilleurs délais_ . It's up to me to say when.
The ambiguity comes from the fact the French use the same expression in both cases. In English, we don't.


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## Topsie

ASAP
(common abbreviation for _as soon as possible_)
Attention au Faux Ami _delay _= retard !


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## Sisal

at the soonest ??


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## Parigigi

This is the English sentence, with asap: 

Upon receipt of this countersigned letter, we will have sent to you as soon as possible a proposal association contract. 

How does it sound to you?


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## floise

Parigi,

I find the use of the future perfect strange here.

Maybe: Directly upon receipt of this countersigned letter, we will send you a proposal association contract. 

I think it means that as soon as we receive this letter that you are going to receive, sign, and return to us, we will send you a proposal ass'n contract.

Using the 'directly upon' formulation means that you will not have to use 'as soon as possible' at all.

floise


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## miznem

Hi!
Could you please help me with the following sentence? The idea in French is the following: Merci de bien vouloir remplir les informations ci-dessous, pour nous permettre de vous appeler et vous repondre dans les meilleurs delais. 

My attempt:

“Thank you for filling in the information hereunder, to let us call you back and answer your information / meeting request in the best lead time”. 

Thanks!


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## elodie86

Bonjour à tous !

Je suis en train d'écrire une lettre de motivation et je me demandais comment je pourrais dire "dans les meilleurs délais".
La phrase est en gros la suivante "préparer et déposer les dossiers auprès des autorités dans les meilleurs délais".

J'ai trouvé "within (the) deadlines", "within the required time", "on time"... quelle est selon vous l'expression qui traduit le mieux l'idée de "meilleurs" càd avant la date limite ?

Je vous remercie par avance de vos réponses,

Elodie


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## Kelimutu

'promptly and on time'  would probably do it!


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## broglet

bjr et bienvenue ds le forum elodie

je dirais 'as soon as possible' ('on time' n'étant pas correct)


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## Kelimutu

perhaps, but neither is 'as soon as possible' 
you would say 'I will do it as soon as possible'
but you cannot say
'(My duties include)preparing and submitting files to the authorities as soon as possible' 
since it suggests that the task is not yet done.. and this is what the Elodie does all the time as part of her job. 

As an alternative I would say : within the specified deadlines/ to meet the specified deadlines...


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## Mauricet

Bienvenue, elodie86.



> "meilleurs" càd avant la date limite ?


"Dans les meilleurs délais" ne veut pas dire "avant la date limite" mais "le plus tôt possible". "Avant la date limite" pourrait se dire "dans les délais (imposés)".


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## broglet

je suis totalement d'accord, Mauricet

dans les meilleurs délais = as soon as possible
avant la date limite = before the deadline

(sorry Kelimutu but 'within the specified deadlines' just isn't English)


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## Kelimutu

here's an example to prove that it is English: (there are many others)
http://www.integreview.com/resources/submission-deadlines/


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## elodie86

Merci de vos réponses ! Une amie m'a suggéré "in a timely manner" qu'en pensez vous ? cette expression est lourde et sonne frenglish mais je crois l'avoir déjà rencontrée.


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## broglet

Kelimutu - that does not prove it is English but it does suggest that it might be American

elodie - 'in a timely manner' est un peu soutenu et/ou démodé mais il se comprendrait parfaitement


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## wildan1

elodie86 said:


> Merci de vos réponses ! Une amie m'a suggéré "in a timely manner"  qu'en pensez vous ? cette expression est lourde et sonne frenglish mais je crois l'avoir déjà rencontrée.


L'expression est courante dans le langage professionnel, du moins en AE ; elle n'a rien de "frenglish" ! 

Je pense que l'expression est tout à fait appropriée pour une lettre de motivation, qui en général devrait être rédigée sur un registre un peu soutenu.

PS : Notez que je viens de fusionner votre question avec le fil existant dans notre dictionnaire WR sur le même thème. Merci dans l'avenir de chercher dans le dico avant de lancer un nouveau fil ; cela évite la création de fils doublons.


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## Kelimutu

Broglet, if you do a search there are plenty of examples of its use in UK English... 
here is just one of them: 
http://www.viagogo.co.uk/help.aspx?helpid=1000892


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## guillaumedemanzac

From all the above, I would choose *without delay* as the most direct and closest to the French. *At your earliest conenience *is also good but means as soon as you tell us when.
guillaume


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## franc 91

as soon as we can (another suggestion)


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## Enquiring Mind

... at the earliest opportunity (yet another!)


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## broglet

For me the best translations are 1 'without delay' and 2 'as soon as possible'

It is worth noting that 1 could seem slightly more demanding or impolite than 2


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## guillaumedemanzac

Yes I agree, but *without further delay* is the most aggressive phrase. And if you are speaking and making a promise *without delay* is fine.
*I will send the item without delay*.
*Please send me the item without further delay*.  - criticizing the previous delays.
*I will send the item as soon as possible.* - could be a little slower than *without delay*.
guillaume


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## wildan1

_without delay _sounds more like _sans tarder_ to me

(remember FR _délai _means _deadline_, not EN _delay_, which means FR _retard_)


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## broglet

another commonly used expression worth considering is 'by return'


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## princemyshkin

In a timely fashion


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