court
/kuʁ/
In French, the word for short is court.
The adjective court is used to describe things that are brief in duration or short in length. It can also describe something that is abrupt, pointed or petulant in tone.
Meaning: abrupt, brief, pointed, petulant (adj)
Which one should you use?
Use court when referring to length or duration. However, do not use court to describe a person's physical height. For human height, you should use petit(e).
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective court changes to agree with the noun it describes: courte is the feminine singular form, courts is the masculine plural form and courtes is the feminine plural form.
How do you pronounce it?
/kuʁ/
Did you know?
- The Latin root of court, curtus, is the direct ancestor of the English word 'curt', which carries the same sense of being brief or abrupt.
- The word court is a false friend to the English word 'court' (as in a royal court), which in French is actually spelled cour.
- If you describe a response as court, you are not just saying it was brief, but potentially suggesting the speaker was being impolite or impatient.
Examples in context
- La vie est courte.Life is short.This sentence uses court to describe life.Tatoeba #957921 by U2FS, translation #697222 by rpglover64
- Sa réponse fut courte.His answer was short.This sentence uses court to describe an answer.Tatoeba #12821323 by Rovo, translation #12703399 by rul
- La vie est trop courte.Life is too short.Tatoeba #3029563 by MartinShadock, translation #2811417 by Hybrid
- Mon collègue est de taille réduite, mais son talent n'en est pas diminué.My colleague is short, but their talent is not diminished.
- Tu n'es pas très grand pour ton âge !You're not very tall for your age!
- 221 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Chloé are discussing a tense phone call.
- LucasPourquoi es-tu si court avec moi ?Why are you being so short with me?
- ChloéJe suis juste très fatiguée, Lucas.I am just very tired, Lucas.
- LucasTon ton était vraiment court et froid.Your tone was really short and cold.
- ChloéJe m'excuse, je ne le pensais pas.I apologize, I didn't mean it.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry court, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries court, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
