French translation requested
 

Would someone please let me know how to write: "Looking forward to seeing you" in French. Thanks much.<BR><BR>

Diane - I would have typed in the translation but in case you have more questions, here's a website that will help you with them:<BR><BR>http://world.altavista.com/

Most French would simply say "A bientot" which literally is "Until soon", but I think of it as "See you soon".<BR><BR>If you want a little closer to what you actually posted here, it might be<BR><BR>J'attends te voir a bientot<BR><BR>(the use of the word would be with a friend) - - or perhaps if this is a business associate,<BR><BR>J'attends vous voir a bientot.<BR><BR>to be absolutely correct, the "a" (lower or upper case) should have an accent grave, thus<BR><BR>&agrave; (alt 133 or alt 0224)<BR><BR>or <BR><BR>&Agrave; (alt 0192)<BR><BR>and a circonflex over the "o" in the word bient&ocirc;t - - which you make with alt-147 or alt-0244.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

This is a tricky one, since there is no real French equivalent to this very idiomatic English expression. Over the years, I've come up with what seems to be the closest - and nicest -approximation: " A bientot de te/vous voir"

<BR>Vincent, what about "Au plaisir de vous voir/rencontrer" or "Je me r&eacute;jouis de vous voir/rencontrer" ? Or is this Belgian French?

Hello, Diane. Vincent is right in saying that this is a bit tricky. It depends somewhat on your relationship with the person to whom you are writing. Is this an old friend, someone you have met in the past but only know slightly, someone you have never met before? We might be able to do better for you if you could answer this question.

I am with Myriam. This is how we would put it in Switzerland. But all depends on the how close the relation is, i.e. how formal it has to be.

Diane- The exact translation is: "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi." kk

Diane: Don't listen to kk. You could run into trouble.

Je suis impatient(e) de te (vous) voir.

I, too, like Myriams' version better than what I first suggested. The "au plaisir de..." has a very formal air - - which makes it in fact, very elegantly and correctly French.<BR><BR>A simple... and similar version which would also work might be just "A la rencontr&eacute;e" - - literally, "Until the (our) meeting (again)..."<BR>

Most French would simply say "A bientot" which literally is "Until soon", but I think of it as "See you soon".<BR><BR>If you want a little closer to what you actually posted here, it might be<BR><BR>J'attends te voir a bientot<BR><BR>(the use of the word would be with a friend) - - or perhaps if this is a business associate,<BR><BR>J'attends vous voir a bientot.<BR><BR>to be absolutely correct, the "a" (lower or upper case) should have an accent grave, thus<BR><BR>&agrave; (alt 133 or alt 0224)<BR><BR>or <BR><BR>&Agrave; (alt 0192)<BR><BR>and a circonflex over the "o" in the word bient&ocirc;t - - which you make with alt-147 or alt-0244.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

I apologize for this double post; it seems to be happening from nothing more than a refresh (after a disconnect/re-connect from the internet). I try to remember to go "back" after a disconnect/re-connect - - since this seems to prevent it - - but it's hard to remember to always do this? Others plagued by this? - - I seem to recall seeing that maybe Sheila Ritchie is experiencing the same thing.<BR>

I had no idea my request would generate so many replies.<BR><BR>I am working on a reunion of five school friends and their husbands at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. We've been friends for 40-50 years starting with one from kindergarten. I picked up postcards at the hotel last week and want to mail them as a small reminder. Of course, I want to be authentic in my message. People are flying in from New York, Florida, Texas, and California. We did this last year in San Antonio and it was a kick.<BR><BR>I've been to Paris, France, three times but the longest sentence I know in French is "ou est la station de taxi, s'il vous plait?" (which I'm sure I've spelled incorrectly but pronounced well enough that someone understood me)<BR><BR>My thanks to all my friends on Fodor's who consistently come to my rescue.

In that case, I'd go with the simple "A bientot," (add accent as per Rex) Vincent's "A bientot de vous revoir" (since you're seeing them again), or Myriam's "Au plaisir de vous revoir." The "vous" assumes your card is addressed to a couple. If to just one person, substitute "te." BTW, can't help but wonder - will anyone you're writing to know what you are saying? Anyway, hope you have fun at your reunion.

&lt;&lt;BTW, can't help but wonder - will anyone you're writing to know what you are saying?&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>makes me chuckle - - I just sent an e-mail to a business associate who was headed to his SIXTH trip to Germany where he conducts business - - and I closed it:<BR><BR>Auf wiedersehen,<BR><BR>Rex<BR><BR>and he wrote back and asked me - - "what does that mean?"<BR><BR>

The note in French is intentional. I want to get them in the mood and hope they make the effort to find a way to get it translated. It's a fun group and I think they'll get into it.

Formally, it would be:<BR><BR>"Au plaisir de vous voir prochainement"<BR>"Dans l'attente de vous rencontrer bient&ocirc;t"<BR><BR>Less formal and friendlier:<BR><BR>"Je me r&eacute;jouis de vous/te (re)voir bient&ocirc;t"<BR><BR>The use of "te" is for someone you're on a first name basis, "vous" for a couple or someone you're not very familiar with.<BR><BR>Unformal:<BR><BR>"&agrave; bient&ocirc;t"<BR><BR>Very unformal, but not rude:<BR><BR>"&agrave; plus" or "&agrave; +" (short for "&agrave; plus tard")

I'd bet that most French would simply say " &agrave; bientot" which literally means "see you soon" but in usage means dozens of variants depending on the context, such as "until the next time", "'til we meet again" and so on.<BR><BR>As everyone demonstrated, there are dozens of other ways to say something similar, e.g. "&agrave; notre prochaine rencontre" = until our next meeting.