Bonjour ! Many times over the years students have asked me, “How do you say e-mail in French?” Today we’re going to answer that question. In short, French terms for e-mail in French are: mail, e-mail and mél. In addition, there is an “officialy” adopted French term which we’ll discover below.
mail, e-mail, mél
E-mail in French
Word origin
Obviously all of these terms for e-mail in French are anglicisms. However, the Académie Française did adopt an offical French term: courriel, which combines courrier (mail) and d’électronique (electronic). The term courriel is more commonly used in Canada.
Example sentences
This first example sentence simply uses “e-mail” directly taken from English.
Je regarde mon e-mail trois fois par jour.
I look at my e-mail three times a day.
In this second example, the English “mail” is slightly modified into a French “mél”, which is commonly used today.
Pourquoi est-ce que tu n’as pas répondu à mon mél ?
Why didn’t you answer my e-mail?
While the French do use adresse email (e-mail address), e-mail, email and mail can also be used.
Je vais vous donner mon mail.
I’m going to give you my e-mail address.
Related lessons
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