When to use it
Use it when you must write to a French office or university and want the proper format.
The sentence in English — “How do you write a formal letter in French?”
In “How do you write a formal letter in French?” generic ‘you’ means anyone and the language name takes a capital.
- How
- adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner
- do
- auxiliary verbdo · tense: present · auxiliary that makes the question
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun used for people in general
- write
- verbwrite · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "do you"
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- formal
- adjectiveadjective
- letter
- nounnoun
- in
- prepositionpreposition
- French
- nounnoun; the name of the language, always capitalised
The sentence in Punjabi — “ਫ਼ਰਾਂਸੀਸੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਰਸਮੀ ਚਿੱਠੀ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਲਿਖੀਦੀ ਹੈ?”
In “ਫ਼ਰਾਂਸੀਸੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਰਸਮੀ ਚਿੱਠੀ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਲਿਖੀਦੀ ਹੈ?” the impersonal ‘ਲਿਖੀਦੀ ਹੈ’ (is written) still turns feminine for ‘ਚਿੱਠੀ’ (letter). It asks the general rule, and ‘ਫ਼ਰਾਂਸੀਸੀ ਵਿੱਚ’ (in French) comes first.
- ਫ਼ਰਾਂਸੀਸੀ
- proper nounthe language 'French'
- ਵਿੱਚ
- preposition'in', with a language
- ਰਸਮੀ
- adjective'formal'
- ਚਿੱਠੀ
- nounfeminine 'letter'
- ਕਿਵੇਂ
- adverb'how', the manner of writing
- ਲਿਖੀਦੀ
- verbਲਿਖਣਾ · form: impersonal, feminine · 'one writes', feminine to match ਚਿੱਠੀ
- ਹੈ
- auxiliary verbਹੋਣਾ · tense: present · completes the impersonal ਲਿਖੀਦੀ ਹੈ
English × Punjabi — What changes from one language to the other
English uses generic ‘you’; Punjabi a special impersonal form that agrees with the letter.
Example conversation
— ਫ਼ਰਾਂਸੀਸੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਰਸਮੀ ਚਿੱਠੀ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਲਿਖੀਦੀ ਹੈ?
— How do you write a formal letter in French?
— ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਵਿੱਚ “ਮਾਦਾਮ, ਮਸਿਓ” ਲਿਖੋ ਅਤੇ ਚਿੱਠੀ ਛੋਟੀ ਰੱਖੋ।
— Start with “Madame, Monsieur” and keep it short.