# I hope this (letter/email) finds you well



## scazza

Hello
Would one ever use "I hope this finds you well" at the begining of a letter / email in French? If not, is there something similar that could be used by way of an introduction ? 
Many thanks

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads have been merged to create this one.


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## edwingill

j'espère que cette lettre vous trouvera en bonne santé


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## aileene33

comment dit-on en francais:

"I hope this letter finds you well"

J'espere que cette lettre.....


Merci d'avance


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## SwissPete

_... te trouvera en bonne santé_ is one possibility.


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## Kinoka

Bonjour!
en anglais cette expression est beaucoup utilisée dans la correspondance via mail (du moinsun certain nombre de mes interlocuteurs l'utilisent en anglais... )
Est-ce qu'il existe un équivalent en français?

_"J'espère que ce mail vous trouvera en forme"_
Cette traduction (trop) littéraire ne sonne pas très bien je trouve 
Des idées?
Merci!


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## hermioneduchemin

Hi Kinoka

Personnellement, je crois qu'il ne faut pas traduire littéralement mais par:

J'espère que vous allez bien

Si quelqu'un a une autre idée.....


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## Kinoka

Merci Hermioneduchemin! En effet, cette traduction est trop forcée et la version plus simple fonctionne mieux! (je cherchais juste un moyen de varier un peu ces mails ;-)


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## kinseyk

I am also looking for a way to say this--that is , "I hope this note finds you well..." 

In English, this is more suited to business correspondence. 

it is a bit more formal, appropriate for business correspondence, especially notes/letters addressed to senior colleague. Also, for notes to colleagues in a culture where this genre of prelude is necessary, and may be considered rude...

 I would very much like to find a more suitable alternative for such circumstances. 

Please, more suggestions with this in mind???


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## Razorlight

I would translate it as "En vous souhaitant une bonne réception".


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## Lemontine

Peut-on mettre cette formule "I hope this letter finds you well" à la fin d'une lettre ? Ou est-elle destiné à ouvrir un courrier ?

Merci !


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## pyan

Hello Lemontime .  I think "I hope this letter finds you well" goes naturally at the start of a letter.
It is a wish, a hope about the present, and the immediate past.
At the end of a letter it is more natural to have wishes for the immediate future.


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## flamingteeth

In English, when we start an email we can use the sentence "Hope this email finds you well." in order to be not that direct. 

In French, do we have something similar?

Thanks for this,


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## wistou

The closest expression we use would probably be: "J'espère que tout va bien pour vous". 
[...]


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## ktibs

Did I do this correctly?

I hope this letter finds you well...
J’espère que cette lettre te trouve bien...


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## Enitram

J'espère que cette lettre te trouvera en bonne santé, en pleine forme.

Martine


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## mylaine

j'espère que tu vas bien, au moment où tu reçois ma lettre


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## DearPrudence

edwingill said:


> j'espère que cette lettre vous trouvera en bonne santé


In French, it's definitely not a set phrase.
I think we would not use the literal translation and either not say anything at all  or something like:
*"J'espère que tu vas bien."*
*"J'espère que ça va."*


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## Tabernero

Hi all. I know this has already been covered on the forums, but the question I'm asking is quite different. 

_I hope this letter finds you well. _

The suggestions I've seen for the translation of this phrase are usually some variation of _J'espère que cette lettre vous trouvera en bonne santé. 
_
However, what's great about the English phrase is that it's so telegraphic and abbreviated that it could potentially mean two things. In my opinion, _I hope this letter finds you well _could indeed mean, as has been suggested, _J'espère que cette lettre vous trouvera en bonne santé _ie. I hope you are well upon receipt of this letter. 

But, I think it could could also carry the nuance of, _I hope you have received this letter without any complications; I hope this letter has found its way safely to you. 

_I want to express the latter since I don't actually know the people I'm writing to. Is there a phrase for this in French? e.g.

_J'espère que cette lettre vous parviendra sans encombre.
J'espère que cette lettre vous trouvera sans encombre.

_What do you think? How would you express this phrase? Thanks!


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## dupontmorand

You can say : "Vous souhaitant bonne réception..." but that's rather formal.

"_J'espère que cette lettre vous parviendra sans encombre" _is correct but no idiomatic.


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## iosonolobo

I'm sorry, but I can't imagine anyone using this English phrase with your alternative meaning.  Even in a poetic attempt at double-meaning, (a trope I often use in writing), that seems to be a stretch to me.


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## Tabernero

Well, because the phrase is so succinct, unlike the French translation, I personally don't think it's particularly vociferous in its meaning, if you will haha. 

Even if it's just an undertone, I think the adverb '_well' _could qualify either the '_you' _or the verb, '_find'. _


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## kateorbuzzy

was wondering if anyone in this thread could shed some light on using this phrase.  what i want to know is if you could use it (in any of the suggested way from this thread) at the beginning of a message in a professional context (in the vous form of course ) or would that be too familiar in france? or maybe there are some here that are better in this situation than others?

thanks!


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## Enitram

This phrase is never used in a professionnal context, it's used for friends, family, etc, to finish the letter.

Martine


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## ZazDubai

Hi everybody,

as native French, I can suggest : "J'espère que ce message vous trouvera en bonne forme", but it sounds a little "old fashion"...


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## petit1

J'espère que ce message vous trouvera tous en bonne santé.


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

J'espère que tout va bien de vôtre côté.


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## torontonian69

Bonjour tout le monde,

Je sais qu'il y a beaucoup d'anglicismes ici au Canada, et je pense que je vous irai présenter un autre...
Mais ce matin, en écrivant un courriel à l'un des mes cleints, je me suis coincé dans l'expression: "I hope this finds you well". 
Ce que je voulais dire c'était quelque expression qui gyrait autour de: "j'espère que ce courriel vous rencontre bien".
Mais j'ignore si cela serait acceptable.

Qu'est-ce que vous y pensez?

Merci mille fois!


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## Micia93

on dira en français "j'espère que ce courriel vous trouve / vous trouvera / en pleine forme"


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## Josephine 1931

Bonjour, 

J'écris une lettre formelle à quelqu'un qui je n'est pas encore rencontré. 
Je veux lui dire, "I hope this letter find you well.'

Comment disons ca en francais? 

Merci.


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## Aline Si

J'espère que ce courrier vous parviendra ?


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## Laetitia79

Vous pouvez simplement écrire "J'espère que vous allez (ou que vous vous portez) bien". Je ne pense pas qu'il soit nécessaire de faire mention de la lettre comme telle... Si vous y tenez, vous pouvez peut-être écrire : "J'espère que cette lettre vous trouve en bonne santé/en pleine forme".


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## Enquiring Mind

Désolé Aline Si, mais ce n'est pas le sens.  I hope that you are well (not ill) when you read this letter.
(If it's a formal letter Josephine, would you normally begin with what is effectively the "hope you are well" routine?)


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## Laetitia79

Laetitia79 said:


> Si vous y tenez, vous pouvez peut-être écrire : "J'espère que cette lettre vous trouve en bonne santé/en pleine forme".



Pour garder le côté formel, je laisserais de côté l'expression "en pleine forme"


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## Josephine 1931

Merci, 
En faite, I don't intend to refer to his good heath or ill-health. 
I'm basically looking for a formality, such as ending a letter with 'Sincerely,' or 'be well.' 

Perhaps I'm thinking in English, though. Do formal letters in french typically contain a sentence such as, 'I hope this letter finds you well.'?


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## Aline Si

Si c'est très formel, par exemple une lettre de motivation pour un emploi, on verra souvent :
- Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées
Phrase qui peut présenter quelques variantes.


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## OLN

Josephine 1931 said:


> Do formal letters in french typically contain a sentence such as, 'I hope this letter finds you well.'?


No. 
I would even say that you don't enquire about a person's health, whether in writing or orally (like "J'espère que vous allez bien"), unless you've been introduced to them.


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## DrD

Josephine, who are you writing to? 'I hope this letter finds you well' would be inappropriate in English if its a very formal letter (like a job application or a letter to your bank manager ), it sounds more like something you might write to a host family you are going to stay with maybe? If you tell us who the letter is for, I'm sure that some of the lovely native French speakers on this forum will give you an idea of the appropriate polite formula


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## Josephine 1931

I am asking a local professional for an interview. 
I'm receiving the message to banish this sentence from my repertoire, though. Will do. 

Merci pour votre aide.


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## Hildy1

The sentence is used more often in some countries where English is used as a second language. It probably corresponds to the way letters in the native language(s) begin.


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## soucouta

Unfortunately, in *professional correspondence* there is *no equivalent in French* ! The translation will of course be appreciated, but it is not common at all. If you want to start your letter with a less direct manner you could start with : "je vous contacte pour ... ", "je me permets de vous contacter pour..." (this one is very useful!). You could only use a sentence regarding the "health/well-being" of the person for friends or if you happen to know that your correspondent was sick. *For friends*, I confirm that it is common to start a letter with "j'espère que tu vas bien" (or anything similar).


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## Mathieu Trouvé

Hello,
I agree with soucouta, there is no literal translation of "I hope this message finds you well". In fact, I trust that even in English this sentence should not be taken too literally either. 
It seems as tough it is more a polite way to direct an unrequested message to someone you do not know. When I receive this kind of message, I read it as "I do not know you but you might be interested in what I have to say". So for this in French, the way to go is "je me permets de vous contacter". And this can also be completed at the end of the message by "En vous souhaite bonne réception" which is actually the closest to the meaning of "hope this finds you well" - it is just at the end and not the beginning...

Also, as a non-native english speaker I also tend to see a sort of double-entendre with "finds you well", which I can read as "the message will reach you well" or "please read this". In French, as Aline Si said, there would be "j'espère que ce courrier vous parviendra". But that is maybe far-fetched.


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## Jaykew

In French you do not begin a letter to a friend by stating that you "hope this letter finds you well". This is good English, not good French.

The closest French equivalent, as others have suggested, is : *"J'espère que tu vas / vous allez bien"* or *"J'espère que tu te portes / vous vous portez bien"* or *"J'espère que tout va bien de ton / votre côté."*


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