# to conclude an informal letter / e-mail



## geve

Hello ! 

I never know how to conclude an e-mail or a letter to an English-speaking friend... In French I would say "bises" or "je t'embrasse". Or "à bientôt" if I am not in a kissing mood !

I have the feeling that "Kisses" has a different meaning - stronger or slightly ridiculous...?

I have my usual "formules de politesse" for business contacts but I am still looking for "une formule passe-partout" for friends...

Merci beaucoup !

[...]


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## charlie2

Regards, My warmest regards, Take care, See you soon, Write me when you can, Have to go now... 
I hope these are what you have in mind.


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## Aupick

When writing to close friends, I usually sign off by saying 'See you' or 'See you soon', even when I won't see them for a long time (which is usually the case, since we live so far apart). Or to close male friends I sometimes say 'Lots of love and kisses', which is clearly sarcastic. (It wouldn't be sarcastic enough with female friends.)

To not so close friends, I've said:
All the best
Best regards
Kind regards
Best

American friends have written 'Later', which I haven't been able to bring myself to use yet.


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Best wishes / Very best wishes, 

Kind regards,

All the best,  

Yours


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## geve

This is exactly what I had in mind, thank you Charlie ! 

So you can use "regards" for friends ? I used it as the French translation "salutations", which is something I wouldn't write to a friend...


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## river

Later, Easy, Ciao, Best Wishes. The last sentence of a note is often good enough.


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## geve

So you never "kiss" people in written English ?

Aupick, your "lots of love and kisses" sounds very much like my use of "gros poutous" in French... a very childish word I sometimes use with female friends and would not dare say to male


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## Diane93

I use:  

Later
See ya
Take care

As for hugs and kisses..no never.  I recall as a child I would get letters from my father and he would sign off with:  I send you hugs & kisses.  And, perhaps if you are sending romantic letters you would close with the same type of thing but between friends it;s all pretty casual


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## geve

Thank you all for your answers !

See ya


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## roger_fr

I agree with all of you but why the translation (french-english) on Wordreference web site for bise or bisou is kiss, should modify it?


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## debjmc

A couple of very casual sign-offs, usaully abbreviated in emails would be 
See you later- SYL
Talk to you later- TTYL
or my personal fav- TTFN- or "Tah tah for now"
one of my friends always signs off- "cheers"


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## GenJen54

> Originally posted by *geve*So you never "kiss" people in written English ?


 
Not in the way the French do..."bis," or "gros bis." 

Some people do use "hugs" as has been referenced, others, if writing to a close friend and/or family member may use "XOXO," along with "love" to represent "kisses and hugs." (See my sample below).

For a casual friend, I would opt for some of the options already presented.

Best Wishes, Best, Regards - for a colleague or acquanintance
Take Care, Later, Hugs - for a close friend or family member

Also, you can just to this (for close friends, family member, spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.)...

_Geve, _

_I hope you are having a good day._

_Love, _

_Gen XOXO _


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## kartelite

When writing to close friends informally I'll use the following:

Peace,
Later,
See ya,
Talk to you later,
Take care,

For a little more formality you can go with:

Hope you're doing well,
Best regards,
Sincerely,

I don't like "See you" because it's something that's rarely said in spoken (American) English, it's always pronounced "See ya".


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## SoupleCommeLeVent

Am surprised that no-one has yet mentioned xxx as an equivalent to "bisous".

You might not write "Kisses" as an equivalent to "bisous" but very often people put their name with x or xx or xxx after it. This is affectionate but not over the top.  Used between friends and relatives, usually of the opposite sex, or between females but not between heterosexual men.

Each x represents a kiss (on the cheek).

Must go now.
Take care,

Souple x


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## Sylva

Please, GenJen54, what is the meaning of these two greetings you mentioned in your post: "_Geve_" and "_Gen XOXO_"? I'm puzzled... Thanks to anybody who can help me. Sylva


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## SoupleCommeLeVent

Sylva said:
			
		

> Please, GenJen54, what is the meaning of these two greetings you mentioned in your post: "_Geve_" and "_Gen XOXO_"? I'm puzzled... Thanks to anybody who can help me. Sylva


 
Geve is the name of the person that Gen was wishing a good day to.

According to the post, XOXO means kisses and hugs, x = kiss, o = hug, though I haven't seen XOXO before.


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## Sylva

Thanks for decoding...


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## Daniel Reynolds

Wow, this is a confused thread. Firstly, XOXO _is_ used, and quite frequently too in certain circles. Kiss hug kiss hug, so to speak. GenJen54 was quite right to say that there is no direct equivalent of the French 'bisous', it's a very charismatic French sort of thing, something I quite like to use by the way. Okay, now considering this is for an email, or an informal letter, like to a friend, some of the suggestions above would probably be too formal for that genre. I really don't mean to have a go at you Jean-Michel Carrère, but things like very best wishes, kind regards, or yours, just would not be used in any email written to a friend. A couple of the other English-speakers have made some very good suggestions that would certainly be used in this sort of writing style:
SoupleCommeLeVent: Must go now, take care.
Kartelite: Peace, later, see ya, talk to you later.
And debjmc was quite right with the abbreviation TTYL something which is frequently used in emails. Also, and I'm surprised these haven't featured more prominently in this thread, the two abbreviations cya and cyu are hugely popular in email culture, and are used on a very frequent basis.
Hmmm, let's see what else... oh yes, River's suggestion of ciao was very good, that one monosyllabic Italian word that has inserted itself into every other culture worldwide. Oh and back to debjmc again, the sign-off of cheers is a good one too, quite widespread in Australia. Oh yes, and please never ever say my warmest regards to a friend, that's just a bit awkward really.
I hope that I've put these suggestions into good order... 
Cya!
Daniel
PS. I also like Aupick's lots of love and kisses for guys, that's a quirky one.


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## Sylva

Thank you for all this information... It will be very useful! TTYL!!!


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## suzi br

You dont find English people writing "kisses", but lots of us put the little xxx that signify a few kisses. 

I often sign off notes with "love" for good pals, of either gender and my family

for friends whom I also work with I use "cheers" or "laters" (which is a bit American text-speak and not for use with conservative people!)


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## GenJen54

> Originally posted by *suzi br*  for friends whom I also work with I use "cheers" or "laters" (which is a bit American text-speak and not for use with conservative people!)


 
Hi Suzi, 

Can you expound on that a bit?  I always though "Cheers" and "Laters" were distinctly British.  I've used Cheers from time to time, but it is definitely an influence of friends who are either British or have spent time in England/Great Britain.

Most Americans I know would not use either of these expressions.


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## river

We say "see you later"  "later" "see you around"  "have a good one" "take it easy" "easy."  We say cheers before drinking an alcoholic drink.


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## Rich696

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> Hi Suzi,
> 
> Can you expound on that a bit? I always though "Cheers" and "Laters" were distinctly British. I've used Cheers from time to time, but it is definitely an influence of friends who are either British or have spent time in England/Great Britain.
> 
> Most Americans I know would not use either of these expressions.



No "cheers" is certainly a British expression.  "Laters", I've found, is an American expression - particuarly East Coast - although it is often used in Britain by kids, particularly in large cities.


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## geve

I've heard "cheers" a lot in Australia too - Cheers mates !  

Now River, when you say "have a good one", what "one" is implied there ? Is it meant to be understood as "day", "night", "evening", depending on the time of the day ?


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## kartelite

> We say "see you later" "later" "see you around" "have a good one" "take it easy" "easy." We say cheers before drinking an alcoholic drink.


I like river's suggestions, I use all of them but "easy" which sounds a little short to me.

Also, in the US we don't say "laters," rather "later," unless we're just doing it to mix it up a little...I've got a friend who always says "lates" but he's from Cali so I won't get into that.

"Have a good one" is just a more informal version of "Have a good day."  It's often said when friends have to split:

- See you later, man.
- All right, bro, have a good one.

*Just a remark, certain informal expressions used in the US may sound VERY strange to Australians or Brits, and vice versa, so a lot depends on who you're communicating with.


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## LV4-26

When I was a schoolboy and went to England for the summer, the family I was staying with and their friends often said "cheerio"when parting.
If I remember well, when the mother of the family wrote to me in France, she would end her letters this way.
I've kept using "cheerio" ever since but now I wonder. Is it still all right or does it sound strange, awkward, old-fashioned ?


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## Aupick

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> When I was a schoolboy and went to England for the summer, the family I was staying with and their friends often said "cheerio"when parting.
> If I remember well, when the mother of the family wrote to me in France, she would end her letters this way.
> I've kept using "cheerio" ever since but now I wonder. Is it still all right or does it sound strange, awkward, old-fashioned ?


I think cheerio is on the way out and sounds a little old-fashioned at this point. I never use it myself although I think it's quite a nice word and would enjoy hearing it more often. It always seems to want to be followed by 'old chap' (in my mind at least): 'Cheerio, old chap!' which also belongs to my parents' generation. (It makes me think of Fawlty Towers.  )


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## LV4-26

Well, I'll try and keep it alive, then.
Thks a lot, old chap.
I didn't know what Fawlty Towers was. I had a quick look on the web. Now I know.


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## river

geve, aupick, LV, if you're ever in the Midwest, I'll take you out for a shot and you can say cheers, cheerio, or whatever.


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## JazzByChas

Well, I'm not a female, so my letters tend to me a little less affectionate. 

I typically say,

"Later"
"Best Regards"
"Sincerely"
"Best Wishes"
"Holla!"
"A La Prochaine" (oops, that's French!)
"One"

and, if to a family member or loved one,

"Love, your dad/husband/bro/Uncle" etc.

But my fav is simply,

"Chas."


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## bozo1234

xoxo is a common ending, but it is often just xxx nowadays. That's about as close as you get to bisous.

eg ...enjoy your holiday,
xxx, Sarah.

we do also seem to use 'love' a bit more freely than the french. if it's a good friend we'll often sign off with either... 
eg. love, Sarah.
or..
with love, Sarah.
or even more casually...
luv, Sarah.

But you know what, we just don't have a good ending like bisous! i often sign off with bisous now, and let people figure it out for themselves!


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## Muffee

I agree with everything Daniel says.
In Ireland, we would use, Later, See ya, Cheers (if thanking someone, aswell, in conversation) and Chat ya!
I think Chat ya is very Irish, and probably only used in Ireland, but just wanted to throw it out there.


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## wildan1

Muffee said:


> Cheers (if thanking someone, as well, in conversation)


 
AE speakers normally use _cheers_ only as a toast or an email signoff, and don't recognize it as a way to say thanks. And _ta _leaves people here clueless, sounding like the first half of _ta-ta,_ goodbye (also not widely used except in TTFN, but understood anyway).


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## geve

wildan1 said:


> AE speakers normally use _cheers_ only as a toast or an email signoff, and don't recognize it as a way to say thanks. And _ta _leaves people here clueless, sounding like the first half of _ta-ta,_ goodbye (also not widely used except in TTFA, but understood anyway).


I concur: reading "ta" in posts here left me clueless for a while. Now that I know what it means I am glad when I see one, it makes me feel part of the happy few - those who know  But I didn't know it could stand for "good-bye" as well as "thanks". 

There's a thread on EO on the topic: do people actually say "ta"?.

What is TTFA?


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## Randisi.

I've noticed many people in the US use 'Cheers', which has always seemed odd coming from Americans. I often use 'Ciao' (but then, look at my screen name!). But - and maybe this signals the end of civility - I sometimes just write my first name. Why would good friends need to use such civilities as: Best, regards, etc.? I've also noted that many of my friends simply type their first initial, which may add a note of familiarity to simply writing one's first name.

Ciao!
R.


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## geve

Randisi. said:


> But - and maybe this signals the end of civility - I sometimes just write my first name. Why would good friends need to use such civilities as: Best, regards, etc.?


Yes, that's a cultural difference that I've come to learn on this forum: one's first name can suffice as a civility, and there's nothing impolite or unfriendly about it. In French we need something - a nice word _(bises, cordialement),_ or a projection in the future _(à bientôt, à+, dans l'attente de votre réponse)_ - to carry that it's the end of the message.


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## dancing_fleur

I usually end it with simply 'xox',  'lots of love', 'much love', or even just my name.


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