A couple of different ways to say "please"

English: Please (a couple of different ways)

French: Veuillez/S’il vous plaît

In an earlier post, we learned that the most common way to say “please” in French is “S’il vous plaît” for formal situations, which is the one that we flight attendants are expected to use, and “s’il te plaît” for informal situations. They both literally mean “if it pleases you” and they’re often abbreviated to “SVP” and “STP” respectively.

In the airline industry, you’ll very frequently come across another word for “please”, which is “veuillez”. This word is very appropriate when making announcements to a large group of people, requesting them to do something in a very formal way, such as announcing to all your passengers to “veuillez rester assis” “please stay seated”.

Speaking directly to a passenger to request that they do something using “veuillez” is a bit excessive (but it’s not wrong to do so and as a French learner, passengers will understand and will not fault you for it.)

You’ll notice that most of the standard flight attendant announcements that the airline provides you use “veuillez”. For added politeness, you can combine “SVP” and “veuillez” and say “SVP veuillez”.

SVP veuillez rester assis=Please stay seated

Grammatically, “veuillez” is the imperative form of the verb “vouloir” “to want” and the only time you’ll probably see “veuillez” is in this context, where it’s used to mean “please”.

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Module 4 of Canadian French for Flight Attendants will be available very soon!

-Less common food/drinks/special meals.

-Bag issues (bag won't fit/no more space).

-Announcements for mechanical problems, cancellations, airplane changes, diverting, etc.

-Delays because of fuel, catering, connection passengers, weather, etc.

-Tight/missed connections.

-And much, much more!

See full course description.

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Flight Attendant Souvenirs. Souvenirs d’un agent de bord. Morocco, December 2019. Maroc, décembre 2019. More of the old city of Fes and surrounding areas. The Blue gate is the main entrance and meeting point of the old city. The Royal Palace. The market. And Fes is also known for its leather tanneries. (Beware of the pungent smells!)

Please stay seated

English: Please stay seated

French: Veuillez rester assis

After landing at your destination, your plane taxis to the gate. It’s not uncommon that the ramp agents have not yet arrived at the gate to meet your aircraft and guide it to its final parking spot at the gate. Your captain stops the plane and makes an announcement that you’re not yet at the gate, that you’re waiting for the ramp agents, and requests that your passengers remain seated for the time being and keep their seat belts fastened until the seat belt sign is switched off.

Otherwise, many passengers will think that the plane has arrived at the gate already because the plane has stopped, and get up from their seats to retrieve their bags. When the plane does start moving again, they may fall or drop their bags, injuring themselves or those around them. This is an announcement that you’ll often need to translate into French.

Veuillez=Please

Rester=Stay, Remain

Assis(e)=Seated

“Veuillez” is one way to say “please” in French. (We’ll elaborate in the next post.)

“Rester” looks like the English word “rest”, but it means “to stay” or “to remain”.

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Module 3 of Canadian French for Flight Attendants is available. Learn the French that flight attendants commonly use on the job: greet passengers, stow bags, drink and meal orders, duty-free service, seat changes, wheelchair requests, weather announcements and much more!

Modules 1 and 2: French basics and pass your flight attendant French test.

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Flight Attendant Souvenirs. Souvenirs d’un agent de bord. Morocco, December 2019. Maroc, décembre 2019. The old city of Fes has many different food options. The three Australians that I met on the 3-day tour from Marrakesh were staying near my riad, and we met up in the evening to explore the old city’s culinary offerings. Pastilla, tagine, Moroccan sweets, yogurt…

Ramp agents

English: Ramp agents

French: Agents de piste

Ramp agents are the ones who will load and unload bags, strollers, wheelchairs, cargo, etc. into and out of the airplane cargo. This includes any cabin bags that you need to send down because there’s no more space in the cabin or because the bag is too big. They are also the ones who drive the tow truck that pushes planes back from the gate for departure and also the ones who marshal the airplanes to the gate for arrival.

Sometimes, your arrival is delayed because you’re waiting for ramp agents to arrive, or your departure is delayed as you're waiting for them to finish completing these aforementioned tasks. If the wait is long, you may need to make an announcement informing your passengers that you’re still waiting for ramp agents and then translate it into French.

Agent (m)=Agent

De=Of

Piste (f)=Runway

Agents de piste=Ramp agents

Instead of "agents de piste", you’ll also hear your colleagues say “personnel au sol”.

Personnel (m)=Personnel, staff

Au=On the, to the

Sol (m)=Ground

Our Canadian French for Flight Attendants audio course uses “agents de piste” as both the word “agent” and “piste” are more functional in other contexts that we encounter as flight attendants.

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Module 3 of Canadian French for Flight Attendants is available. Learn the French that flight attendants commonly use on the job: greet passengers, stow bags, drink and meal orders, duty-free service, seat changes, wheelchair requests, weather announcements and much more!

Modules 1 and 2: French basics and pass your flight attendant French test.

www.facebook.com/frenchforflightattendants

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Flight Attendant Souvenirs. Souvenirs d’un agent de bord. Morocco, December 2019. Maroc, décembre 2019. The Marinid Tombs (circa 14th century) just north of the old town of Fes. Perched on top of a hill, it's a popular place from which to watch the sunset.