Expression library « Courriel » Email.
How do you say “email” in Québec French? « Courriel » .
Standard Short, 1:01. Published Oct 21, 2026.
Hear it
Slower
Record yourself
Your recording stays on your device and is never sent.
Literally
Courrier électronique, electronic mail, squeezed into one word.
Means
Email: the message and the system. « Je t’envoie un courriel » : I’ll send you an email.
Say back
« Je t’envoie un courriel. » I’ll send you an email.
Play 1:01 , the Short Courriel: the Québec word for email, in four dates, captions on Captions on
Watch on YouTube
Answer in the YouTube comments : Do you say courriel or email?
« Courriel » is French for email: « courrier électronique » squeezed into one word. Usito finds it in writing in 1994, spreading mostly in Québec in the late 1990s. The OQLF put it in its Internet vocabulary in 1997 and made it official in 1998; France recommended it on June 20, 2003. Who coined it? Sources disagree, so we don’t say; Usito calls it Québec-made. « Courriel » is standard.
Transcript
Transcript × What’s said in the video, line by line. The narrator speaks English.
Narrator 1994. A new word shows up in Québec: « courriel » . Narrator Do you know what it means? Narrator Email! « Courrier électronique » , electronic mail, squeezed into one word. Narrator Here’s its life in four dates. Narrator 1994: first written in Québec. Narrator 1997: Québec’s language office adds it to its Internet vocabulary. Narrator 1998: it becomes official in Québec. Narrator And on June 20, 2003, France recommends it too. Narrator Who invented it? Nobody knows for sure. But it’s considered Québec-made. Julie « Je t’envoie un courriel. » Narrator « Je t’envoie un courriel » : I’ll send you an email. And « email » or « mail » ? The OQLF advises against them.Narrator Your turn: how do you say email in Québec? Narrator « Un courriel » . It’s standard: official in Québec, recommended in France.Narrator You heard it. Now you know it. Watch it in a full episode When to use it Standard: official in Québec since 1998, recommended in France since 2003. The OQLF advises against « email » and « mail » .
Practise it 2 questions
1. What does « Courriel » mean? No way! Oh, come on! Come on, it’s OK. Email. Did you go vote? 2. Familier or standard? Familier Standard
Ways to say it
Québec « Courriel » Standard Standard « courrier électronique » , « message électronique » Fine everywhere, including in writing.
Every Sunday, the week in Québec French We send the week’s expressions and a two-minute quiz. You also get a printable sheet of all our expressions so far, free, right away.
Captions on