{"id":8813,"date":"2016-03-19T15:58:09","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T13:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frenchcourses-paris.com\/?p=8813"},"modified":"2021-01-11T09:32:56","modified_gmt":"2021-01-11T08:32:56","slug":"business-french-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frenchcourses-paris.com\/fr\/french-courses-paris\/business-french-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning the Essential Business French Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business French vocabulary for professionals
<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Business<\/p>\n

Business Greetings<\/h3>\n

You know bonjour<\/em><\/strong> (hello, good day), but note that this French greeting expression is employed only once per day. After that, you could say salut <\/em><\/strong>(hey)\u2014but most French coworkers are more likely to just nod, or say nothing.<\/p>\n

Handshakes (se serrer la main<\/em><\/strong>) are expected, while colleagues in smaller and more informal businesses may greet each other with la bise<\/em><\/strong> (kisses on the cheek) in the morning if they like each other\u2014or pretend to. The number of kisses varies according to region, but in Paris it is often two kisses beginning on the left.<\/p>\n

Formality in French companies: Tu<\/em> vs. Vous <\/em>in the Office<\/h3>\n

Which form of \u201cyou\u201d should you use in the office, the informal tu<\/em><\/strong> or the formal vous<\/em><\/strong>? You\u2019ll have to listen carefully to your colleagues to determine the correct level of formality for each situation and each particular business culture; when in doubt of course stick to vous<\/em>.<\/p>\n

That said, you\u2019ll sometimes find tu<\/em> used among workers at all levels in arts organizations, nonprofits and smaller companies. It\u2019s also common for colleagues to use tu<\/em> among themselves, but vous<\/em> with the bosses. Some higher-ups don\u2019t like this separation and will ask you to use tu<\/em>; others definitely prefer to enforce it.<\/p>\n

Vous<\/em> is almost always used in meetings with those outside of your own company. Monsieur <\/em><\/strong>(sir) and madame<\/em><\/strong> (ma\u2019am) are also used much more than their English counterparts, and can come in handy when you forget someone\u2019s name!<\/p>\n

Words for the (Limited) Role of Socializing in Business Relationships<\/h3>\n

Foreigners working in France are often surprised by the limited amount of socializing that goes on between les coll\u00e8gues<\/em><\/strong> (coworkers). But opportunities to make a more social connections include the increasingly common team buildings<\/strong><\/em> (team-building events; ignore what dictionaries might tell you, as the shortened anglicism is usually used<\/u>) and les formations <\/em><\/strong>(training sessions), which companies are required to provide for their employees, and which employees famously don\u2019t take too seriously and use as opportunities to socialize.<\/p>\n

French Vocabulary for Business Organizations<\/h3>\n

The Word \u201cCompany\u201d in French<\/h4>\n

Beware of the French word for a company, une<\/em><\/strong> soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em>It is also of course used in the same senses as the English \u201csociety,\u201d but its second meaning as \u201ccompany<\/strong>\u201d is just as common (and now you know what French people mean when are attempting to speak English and ask, \u201cWhat society do you work for?\u201d).<\/p>\n

Another term for a company is entreprise<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>and a common informal term is bo\u00eete<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Types of Companies in France<\/h4>\n