WRITING EMAILS IN POLISH. PART 3, FORMAL STRUCTURES AND SIGN-OFFS.

FORMAL STRUCTURES IN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE
We have already discussed the ways of opening formal and informal emails (check out our posts of 4th and 20th February). Now it’s time to talk about the opening lines that can be used in formal letters.
If we’re writing an email in response to an invitation or a letter that contained some information, we can use the following phrases, some of which you must have already learned in your Polish classes:

Chciał(a)bym podziękować za ...  (I would like to thank you for...)
Pragnę serdecznie podziękować za...  (literally: I would like to sincerely thank you for...)
Uprzejmie dziękuję za ... (literally: Thank you kindly for...)
Chciał(a)bym/ Pragnę Pana/ Panią/ Państwa poinformować, że ...  (I would like to inform you that)

If we refer to a subject we discussed in a meeting or during a phone conversation some time before, we can write:

W nawiązaniu do naszej rozmowy telefonicznej... (With reference to our telephone conversation...)
Nawiązując do naszej ostatniej rozmowy... (With reference to our last conversation...)
W odniesieniu do tematu naszego ostatniego spotkania... (With reference to the subject of our last meeting...)
Odnośnie do tematu naszego spotkania... (Following the subject of our meeting...)
W odpowiedzi na Pana/ Pani wiadomość... (In response to your message...)

Please note that the forms pan/pani are spelt with a capital letter, and the expression odnośnie is used with the preposition do. The version without the preposition is frequently used as well (e.g. odnośnie tematu naszego ostatniego spotkania), but it is considered colloquial.
Official emails often include attachments, so expressions such as the ones below are an important part of correspondence:

W załączniku znajdzie Pan/ Pani .... (Please find attached/enclosed...)
W załączeniu przesyłam... (I have attached...)
Załączam naszą ofertę...  (I am anclosing our offer...)

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CLOSING LINES
When closing an email it’s a good idea to ensure the recipient that we will welcome any questions they might have:

W razie jakichkolwiek pytań, proszę o kontakt (Should you have any questions, please contact me)
W razie dodatkowych pytań jestem do Pana/ Pani/ Państwa dyspozycji (literally: If you have any questions, I’m at your disposal)

Or indicate that we are are looking forward to the meeting:

Z chęcią spotkam się z Państwem, aby omówić...  (I will be happy to meet you to discuss...)

SIGN-OFFS
Students of Polish often ask how to sign off a formal letter. The most common expression we use to close a formal email is:

Z poważaniem  (Sincerely, literally: with respect)

but you can also come across:

Z wyrazami szacunku  (Yours faithfully)

This form is somewhat outdated, but still in use and seems to be full of old-fashioned charm (the same as its „relative“, the expression Łączę wyrazy szacunku – literally: I enclose my respects). If  you have been exchanging emails for a while and got to know the recipient better, you can use the less obliging Serdecznie pozdrawiam (literally: I greet you sincerely).

Now we can only say goodbye to you and wish you a fruitful correspondence in Polish:)

WRITING EMAILS IN POLISH. PART 2: INFORMAL AND SEMI-FORMAL GREETINGS

INFORMAL GREETINGS IN POLISH EMAILS

Informal correspondence in Polish seems to be much less stressful for the students of Polish as a foreign language than generating formail emails (more on formal correspondence in our entry of 4th February). When writing to a friend you can use any greeting you like. In an opening phrase there may appear forms that are common for verbal communication: Cześć – Hej – Sie ma (very colloquial!) – Witaj (we have mentioned this controversial greeting in part 1 of our series on email correspondence)  or a simple Dzień dobry. If we’re writing to someone close to us we may, or even should, use forms like Kochany, Kochana, Kochani (literally: darling, beloved one(s)). The adjectives Drogi, Droga, Drodzy, Drogie are just as common. However, in the context of correspondence, those adjectives CAN’T BE translated as the English Dear or the French Cher(e). We can write Droga Aniu, Drogi Marku, Drodzy Koledzy, but not Drogi Panie Dyrektorze (check out our entry of 4th Feb to find out what form we use in this case).

VOCATIVE CASE IN CORRESPONDENCE: TO USE OR NOT TO USE?

When talking about the greetings, the discussion always returns to the vocative case, which has been slowly disappearing from the Polish language. An example of that is the situation when we put recipient’s name in the opening phrase. Accordingly, we should write Cześć Aniu, Marku, Tomku, Kasiu, but these days the nominative case is used more and more often and we make forms, such as Cześć Ania, Marek, Tomek, Kasia. Informal correspondence is governed by less restrictive rules than the formal one, but the use of the vocative case is advised not only  for the sake of accuracy, but also to express our emotional attitude towards the recipient. The form Cześć Aniu sounds more intimate and warmer than Cześć Ania. Interestingly, if we decide on the greeting with the adjective Droga/Drogi or Kochany/Kochana, the only  possible form is the vocative one (Droga Aniu, Drogi Marku, Kochana Kasiu), the use of any other form is a glaring error.

SEMI-FORMAL GREETINGS

The Polish language is sometimes so formalised that it becomes hard to use even for the native Polish speakers. For this reason, in cases where we cannot be on first name terms with someone, either because of cultural or professional circumstances, the semi-formal forms come in handy. The students of Polish frequently ask what forms like Pani Aniu, Panie Marku mean, and what degree of intimacy they refer to. Most foreigners find such a collocation shocking and unacceptable in their native languages (e.g. in the German language). Meanwhile, such forms of address, common in the Polish culture, help to avoid numerous obstacles and longueurs of the formal language. Remember, however, that you need to know a person at least a little and be peers in the hierarchy of a company or organization. When we start an email with a semi-formal greeting, we can write Pani Aniu, Panie Marku, but DO NOT collocate those forms with Szanowny/Szanowna (literally: honorable). The only acceptable option is Szanowny Panie, Szanowna Pani.

Next part of our series on writing emails in Polish will follow soon, in the meantime check out our FB profile. The information you can find there will help you to learn more than how to write emails in Polish.