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| BASIC RULES OF FRENCH WRITING BY FRENCH TRANSLATORS |
FRENCH ACCENTS aka DIACRITICS
The usual French accents (i.e., diacritic marks) are the acute ( ´ , accent aigu as in "é"), the grave ( ` , accent grave as in "à"), the circumflex ( ˆ , circonflexe, as in "î"), the diaeresis ( ¨ , tréma as in "ü"), and the cedilla ( ¸ , cédille as in "ç").
- Acute accent (é). An é in modern French is often used where a combination of e and a consonant, usually s, would have been used formerly: écouter < escouter. Seemingly identical words in French often have very different meanings when written with or without an accent. As an example, the expression 'biscuits salés' (with the accent aigu on the e), means salted biscuits, whereas the expression 'biscuits sales' (without an accent on the e) means dirty cookies.
- Grave accent (à, è, ù): Over a or u, used primarily to distinguish homophones: à ("to") vs. a ("has"), ou ("or") vs. où ("where", note that ù exists only in this word).
- Circumflex (â, ê, î, ô, û). Most often indicates the historical deletion of an adjacent letter (usually an s or a vowel): château < castel, fête < feste, sûr < seur, dîner < disner. It has also come to be used to distinguish homophones: du ("of the") vs. dû (past participle of devoir "to have to do something (pertaining to an act)"; note that dû is in fact written thus because of a dropped e: deu). Since the 1990 orthographic rectifications, the circumflex on most i and u may be dropped as there is no change in pronunciation, and it does not serve to distinguish homophones.
- Diaeresis or tréma (ë, ï, ü, ÿ): Over e, i, u or y, Indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one: naïve, Noël.
- Cedilla (ç): Under c, indicates that an etymological c is pronounced /s/ when it would otherwise be pronounced /k/. Thus je lance "I throw" (with c = [s] before e), je lançais "I was throwing" (c would be pronounced [k] before a without the cedilla). The c cedilla (ç) softens the hard /k/ sound to /s/ before the vowels a, o or u, for example ça /sa/. C cedilla is never used before the vowels e or i since these two vowels always produce a soft /s/ sound (ce, ci).
The tilde diacritical mark ( ˜ ) above n is occasionally used with the French alphabet for certain words and names of Spanish origin that have been incorporated in the language (e.g. cañon, El Niño). Like the other diacritics, the tilde has no impact on the primary alphabetical order.
Diacritics are often omitted on capital letters, mainly for technical reasons. It is widely believed that they are not required; however both the Académie française and the Office québécois de la langue française reject this usage and confirm that "in French, the accent has full orthographic value" except for acronyms but not for abbreviations (e.g. CEE, ALENA, but É.-U.). Nevertheless, diacritics are often ignored in word games, including crosswords, Scrabble and Des chiffres et des lettres.
CAPITALIZATION IN FRENCH — RULES & CUSTOMS
The
Termium Reference
PROPER NAMES IN FRENCH — RULES & CUSTOMS
In business writing and formal (officious) correspondence, the use of family names versus first names is a matter of cultural and business etiquette. It goes counter to French cultural/business etiquette to use first names in formal written exchanges as their use is considered to be a familiarity reserved for friends and family. This is a custom that has been carried over from France to French Canada.
When writing to someone in French, the opening line would be something like "Bonjour, madame Untel", when you have not met that person and the relationship is one of business.
In business and social settings, it is customary in France and French Canada to address people with the formal "vous" (rather than “tu") and not use first names until told to do so. The use of last names in French is not a sign of unfriendliness and French people are not put off by it.
With respect to using a first name in English business correspondence, it is purely a matter of personal choice. English is less formal and it is common practice to see first names used in business correspondence, abstracts and biographies.
When correspondence will be read by different audiences, it becomes a question of whether or not the English and French versions should be technically consistent. It's a matter of personal choice. When one chooses to adopt a different style in an English version, i.e., Ms. Untel or Marie-Anne Untel versus Marie-Anne, one should be consistent and choose one over the other rather than combine two forms; the form Ms. Untel is likely the preferred choice in most circumstances as it is shorter and more neutral.
TITLES & SALUTATIONS IN FRENCH — RULES & CUSTOMS
The title of Doctor (for holders of a doctorate) is not used in French for people who are not actual medical doctors. It is customary in French to use the designation "Ph.D." in its place.
Reference
THE EXPRESSION OF TIME IN FRENCH
The
Reference
THE EXPRESSION OF DATES IN ENGLISH
Question: 25 January 2011 rather than January 25, 2011?
There is no official rule in terms of date format usage. It appears to be a matter of custom and
accepted/general usage.
Apparently, "the vast majority of the world's countries" have adopted the "Gregorian little Endian, starting with day" formula. See: Starting with Day (e.g., 12
January, 2012). That's how the French is customarily formulated (e.g., 12 janvier 2012).
The middle Endian, starting with month is primarily used in the United States, partially in Canada (see:
Starting with Month), though not in French Canada.
Usage in the world is all over the map (pun intended). See a map of how dates are in use and formatted at:
Date Usage Map on Wikipedia
The fact that there is no 'standard' per se was underscored in an October 29 (or should that be 29 October?) article in
the National Post tilted "Is 02/04/12 February 4, or April 2? Bill seeks to end date confusion (see:
End Date Confusion)
Wikipedia has ample information on the topic of calendar days: Read more...
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