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I had a very frustrating miscommunication recently in making an appointment by email, where I thought the appointment had been confirmed and showed up, but the other person didn't, as they were still waiting for my confirmation. The exchange ended with:

Me: Merci, oui, [date/time] est bon pour moi.

Them: Très bien. Nous nous retrouverons à [date/time].

How should I have replied to this last message to make it 100% clear that the appointment is definitely confirmed and I will be there?

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    I would say this is their mistake. You told them a time was fine for you, and they agreed, using the future tense to say when you two will meet. If it wasn't clear for them, they should have asked for confirmation.
    – Kyrio
    Oct 19, 2015 at 8:56

5 Answers 5

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If you want to make sure you confirm an appointment and tell you'll be there, just express it clearly, e.g.:

Merci de votre proposition de rendez-vous. L'heure me convient. Je vous confirme donc ma présence le xxx à xxx heures.

(heure) est bon pour moi might indeed be misunderstood as you just tell an unidiomatic way the time is good for you without explicitly confirming you'll be there. It is however unclear why "Nous nous retrouverons à xxx" was answered if your party wasn't understanding the appointment to be confirmed.

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    Thanks, "Je vous confirme donc ma présence le xxx à xxx heures." sounds like the kind of thing I'm looking for.
    – EM0
    Oct 19, 2015 at 7:17
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If he had said something like nous pouvons nous retrouver... that would seem like confirmation was needed, but his use of the future seems pretty clear to me: I would have felt as you did. So in retrospect, all I can suggest is responding with something like D'accord, à jeudi (or whatever).

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To be honest, their answer is not that unclear (at least to me).

But since you are a little bit worried/unsure of your answer especially that you do not show us the previous conversation with them, then put in your mind that there is nothing bad in confirming them again that you agree with the appointment. Thus, you can answer them something like this:

Je vous en remercie et je tiens à vous confirmer ma disposition pour le rendez-vous que vous venez de me fixer pour le jour/mois prochain à heures:minutes

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    +1 for suggesting that it’s ok not only to reconfirm but to restate the whole deal. I’ve even started specifying the date & the day of the week when I confirm 'cause it seems more&more that people (mostly at “the top,” in my experience) are incapable of grasping that the day of the week for a particular date changes each year. Their herculean “save as” efforts to “create” a notice for this year’s meeting by modifying the one from last year often creates nothing but confusion. (Dear Boss:Did you mean “Wednesday” or did you mean “October 22,” ‘cause they’re not one & the same this year?)
    – Papa Poule
    Oct 19, 2015 at 14:14
  • Yes, you're absolutely right. In fact, I faced this situation can be faced by any person even the conversation is lead by the same mother tongue @PapaPoule
    – user6768
    Oct 19, 2015 at 14:19
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Je serai là at time (futur) is correct but not really used in a written communication.

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Merci, je serais là à (temps).

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  • I am french. If you say "je serais la" it's clear and you can't have miscommunication.
    – Deliss
    Oct 19, 2015 at 14:45
  • @Delisse @E M Je serais là is conditionnal, so it implies a "if". The translation is: I would there at time (if i can/if i dont forget) Je serai là at time (futur) is correct but not really used in a written communication.
    – EColi
    Oct 19, 2015 at 15:58
  • Ah, of course, it's "serais" (conditional) vs "serai" (future)! Thanks.
    – EM0
    Oct 19, 2015 at 17:13

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