Transcript

Hello everyone. Today, in this new French lesson, we are going to talk about a very small word, the word "bref".

I lost my keys. Anyway, if there's one thing that pisses me off even more than losing my keys, it's guys giving me crappy advice. Did you look in your other pocket?

This word "brief", it can be used in different contexts and this is what we will see together today.

As usual, I'll give you context for the different uses of the word "brief."

I know it's often the smallest words that slip in all over the place that are the most difficult for you to understand and use. Let's start right away with the first use of that adverb "brief."

It is used to cut short a conversation, a thought or a reasoning that is being presented. It is used very often in this context. I will give you some context. You will understand better. I hesitate between a long dress and a short dress for this evening. With the short dress, it will be easier to dance, but I find long dresses more elegant. In short, I'm a bit lost.

So you see, we say "short", to kind of cut through our thinking. I've been running around all day and didn't even have time to eat lunch, so let's order a pizza?

We use it to say we're moving on. For example, if I've been trying to do things on my computer all day, but I never got around to it, I can say "well, I finally called my company's technician".

Brief is also used as a synonym for "in summary".

We will then say "in brief". So in a shortened way, in a summarized way, in short version. I could explain the story of Romeo and Juliet for 30 minutes, but in short, it is the story of two lovers whose families were enemies and therefore could not be together. In short, it's the story of a couple of lovers.

What? Vanessa and Christophe have separated. Yes, but it's a very long story. Can you tell it to me in a nutshell? We can also use the word "brief" as an adjective.

So here it's no longer an adverb, it's an adjective and it's used as a synonym for short, concise. I thought for a brief moment that you had cut your hair, but it was just tied back.

A brief moment is a brief moment. I could also say "tell me in comments a short story about your vacation, a story in one or two sentences.

This adjective can obviously be used for people. It will be brief in the masculine, but brief in the feminine. It is an expression that means to be concise.

To manage to tell or do something in a short period of time. I'm not going to give you a long speech to tell you how I feel. I'll keep it short, I love you.

Or if you're a girl like me, I'll make it brief, I love you.

That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this video on this tiny little word and that you got a good feel for how you can use it, sometimes as an adverb, sometimes as an adjective.

If you liked this video, don't forget to support my work by putting a "like" and I'll see you soon for a new French video.