I understand that the French translation of "for your information" is "pour votre information", but is the acronym PVI used?
7 Answers
Pour votre information
works; in most contexts you could also shorten it to:
Pour information.
In contexts where it's used with a colon at the start of a sentence (for example, "FYI: there is a conference on flying sausages [...]), you could simply use,
Information : il y a une conférence sur les saucisses volantes [...]
As far as using the acronym PVI is concerned, I think it's a lot more rare in French; I've never seen it myself. However, there is a wikipedia page that references it, and it's also reference a few random places on the web. I didn't succeed in finding an actual dictionary reference, so probably better to avoid using it unless you're really cramped for space - it's more likely to cause confusion than anything else.
-
13In casual conversation, "pour ton/votre information" is usually shortened as "pour info".– AdrienFOct 19, 2022 at 10:22
-
17
-
'PVI (Pour votre information) : Le message est à titre indicatif et aucune action n’est attendue de la part des destinataires. jacquesbizard.ecoleouestmtl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/… Oct 19, 2022 at 18:05
I've never seen “pour votre information” abbreviated as “PVI”. If I saw “PVI”, I don't think I would guess what it means.
“Pour votre information” is commonly abbreviated to “pour info”, both in informal speech and in informal writing. It's common in corporate emails or chat (when formality isn't required).
-
5"Pour information" est parfois abbrégé "PI" (vu dans des courriels). Jamais vu PVI, en revanche.– XouDoOct 19, 2022 at 7:38
-
People would be far more likely to write FYI if they know English, and you could expect some people to understand it. Not very French, though. Oct 19, 2022 at 11:51
-
There is not an exact French equivalent for FYI, but a similar phrase would be "pour votre information" or "PVI."
It certainly depends on the environment, but I always use "FYI" and see it used that way. At least in business/technology, this is one of these things that sneakily crawled into our language.
I've heard « pour ta gouverne » as well, but I believe this is soutenu.
-
2Yes and no ... "Pour ta gouverne" also means FYI (not often seen in writting), however it is mostly condescending ("I'm telling you this info because it seems you're too dumb to know it") and not particularly soutenu– tarulenOct 21, 2022 at 11:49