Don't say JE SUIS CONFUS in French - Say this instead - Confused in French

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

J'espère que vous n'êtes plus perdus après avoir regardé cette vidéo ! If you are and you are in a French-speaking country, check out my speaking course for French confidence: frenchinplainsight.com/find-your-french-confidence

[@joalexsg9741]

Sharing!

[@saidutube]

Awesome!

[@xavierkreiss8394]

Congratulations on your entertaining and well informed clips! One remark, however: we DO say "je suis confus", but as you probably know we use it when we apologise: "je suis confus" means I'm terribly sorry. As you will have guessed, I'm one of those French people whose language you speak so well.

[@lesfreresdelaquote1176]

The main difference is that confus in French is a state of mind, while in English it is a process. In English you can be confused by a situation. Basically, when you say _je suis confus_ you usually apologize for a faux pas you did because you did not understand the situation. For instance, you have an appointment to a doctor at 4 but you show up at 3. You could apologize with: _Je suis confus je croyais que le rendez-vous était à 3h00_ This is also the reason why the verb _confuser_ does not exist in French. It's confusing --> C'est confondant... C'est déroutant...

[@kenross4256]

excellent, thank you!

[@tarabris243]

Salut Alex, J'ai quitté la France quand j'avais 19 ans et j'ai maintenant 60 ans. Je vivais aussi à Montpellier. Mon français n'est plus ce qu'il était et j'aime beaucoup tes vidéos pour me remettre dans le bain. L' attrition d'une langue natale serait, je pense, un bon sujet à aborder! Après tant d'années loin de la France, je parle français avec un léger accent anglais, je parle anglais avec un accent français et l'espagnol......ben oui.....comme une vache espagnole ....hahaha ! Bravo Alex, ton français est super et merci encore pour tout ce que tu fais ici sur KZbin. T'es un vrai chef ! À plus, Michel

[@TheSirmousavi]

Je suis confus is a very strong version of saying I'm sorry for or I'm embarrassed by my mistake

[@cliodhnette]

Thanks for this Alex, after 15 years in France, I'm still learning the language. Your video takes me back to a work meeting in my early days in the country. At some point, I said, 'je suis confuse' and everybody more-or-less fell about laughing. After the meeting, a colleague came to tell me that I couldn't say that, but I never did find out why.

[@foreverlearningfrench]

J'ai appris deux nouvelles phrases. "Je suis paumée." et "C'est pas clair." Merci Alex !

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Super !

[@manonamanona9594]

I love your channel. It's amazing to learn from someone who's already gone through the same experience and has an answer to common questions.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

So happy you feel that way! What stage are you at?

[@manonamanona9594]

A2+

[@thomasalegredelasoujeole9998]

Un drapeau avec la croix occitane ! I was born and raised in Montpellier ; and it is heartwarming to see that raised up high in your home, friend ! I sincerely hope you are having the time of your life in this city that is still very dear to me ! Cheers, from an Anglophile Montpelliérain !

[@PierreMiniggio]

If you're REALLY REALLY confused and understood absolutely nothing, you could also say "J'ai rien compris" or "J'ai rien pigé".

[@tawfiqgab]

I say : Je comprends pas Je pige pas I tend to use the present tense more than the past, but I still use both of them. I also use Chui perdu/paumé/perplexe (and probably other words) a lot. Especially when someone is explaining a complex idea, I usually use the verbe "attendre" first, "attends, mais chui perdu là, je pige rien du tout"

[@tawfiqgab]

Ça m'arrive aussi de dire "quelque chose ou quelqu'un m'a laissé perplexe"

[@tawfiqgab]

I just remembered an other one "je suis déboussolé"

[@aldozilli1293]

J'ai pas capte

[@wayneguiney6771]

Because of I am old and nearly always confused, this lesson has been particularly helpful. Many thanks.

[@catherinespencer2068]

Wonderful clear explanation of something that always confused me!

[@crissandra58]

Coucou. Instead of "Tu m'as rendu perdu", you should say "tu m'as perdu" 😊 Thanks for your amazing work, from a Bourguignonne 😉

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Oh yes, I wasn't suggesting one say "Tu m'as rendu perdu" I should have made that clearer. Grammatically speaking it works so that's what I'm trying to communicate. Thank you for your additional good phrase Sandra :)

[@M0RALO]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Dans ce sens tu peux employer "confus". "Tu m'as confus", c'est mieux approprié que "Tu m'as perdu" mais les deux sont bons.

[@PierreMiniggio]

@@M0RALO J'ai beaucoup plus souvent entendu "Tu m'as perdu" que "Tu m'as confus".

[@Kitiwake]

That's ok among friends. Imo, it's putting the ownership of the confusion on the other person. The "danger" here for the novice french speaker is that they are the one with the handicap.

[@jeannettestuckelschwaiger5071]

Alex je vois que vous avez suscité un grand débat sur le confus. bcp de français vous regardent. je me suis même abonnée. Cela fait 50 ans que je parle le francais mais suis encore et tjrs passionnée par la beauté et la finesse de cette langue. par contre votre video est interessante car entertaining et educatif avec une touche british un peu excentrique mais en tte finesse. je parle et écris en 4 langues mais à 75 ans tout cela devient une confusion terrible. Pourtant je n'en suis confuse. Bonne journée.

[@paull7725]

« Je suis confus » is a difficult one to translate. It is usually a term you say when you messed up and acknowledge it apologetically. I already heard in the same context « I am mortified » or « I’m embarrassed » or a simple « I’m so sorry » Otherwise confus has another meaning so as to describe something indistinct or unclear. « Ton explication est confuse » - I’m not confused, the explanation is. Similar to the term comfortable : « I’m comfortable (in this bed) » -> « ce lit est confortable »

[@TheZmusicGroup]

"confus" in French means that something is not well explained. It would be used to describe, for example, an unclear statement or sentence : it is "confus", it lacks consistency, the meaning is subject to interpretation. An oral presentation or a paper work that lacks coherent and proper argumentation is "confus". It's way more often used to describe things or situations ("une situation confuse") rather than people although it isn't a grammar error to say that "you're confused"

[@aguadica]

¡Gracias!

[@joalexsg9741]

Promptly subscribed after a few minutes into the video! You're an amazing teacher and also have amazing diction in English as well, which is crucial for us who aren't native English speakers but need to keep in touch with the language on a daily basis while learning other languages. As a plus, you're very handsome:-) Thanks for your generosity, giving all these most useful explanations for free for those of us who can't afford the paid stuff. I know everyone must earn a living and some may not realize the importance of such videos but every bit of free stuff is a sure step towards the democratization of knowledge, helping to make this world a better place. Je suis vraiment reconnaissant:-) Shared for sure!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Merci Jo !

[@joalexsg9741]

@@FrenchinPlainSight De rien!:-)

[@steprich]

For complicated and 'confusng' documents or description, I would use 'pas clair' from the 3 you propose (pas clair / confus / deroutant), but even more naturally, I woud probably use "c'est incomprehensible". It is a long word, but does existst in English (so not so difficult to memorize), even if maybe from another register of the vocabulary. In French, it is a standard daily word, nothing particulary fancy about it and works especially well for any writing description or procedure (hello French Administration!!). You should avoid to use this to express confusion towards what a person says, though... it can work, but can also be taken badly (like as a negative comment to the individual rather or in adition to the message), so to keep for written stuff or description of something.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Brilliant. Thanks Stéphane. Another bonus of "incompréhensible" is that it has so many syllables that you can make it longer the more emotion you want to add when you say it. A bit like saying "N'importe quoi" and stressing everything!

[@BZValoche]

We don't say "j'ai rendu quelqu'un perdu", we say "je l'ai perdu", or "j'ai perdu

[@palbey]

It’s a very useful video, my friend. La video etait tres utile, mercy beaucoup 👍👏

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Glad to hear that!

[@dina800]

Really thank you a lot your videos are very helpful.. u are doing a great effort.. really appreciate it thanks a lot🙏🙏

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

It's my pleasure

[@xiaoyisi]

I was searching for the best translation of "I'm confused" in French and Google led me here :) It's an excellent video! Thank you for explaining all different ways to say "confused", "to confuse" and "confusing". In Quebec French, we can also say "je suis mêlé.e" for "I'm confused", another "je suis" option :)

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

You're very welcome! I think that modern Québec French borrows from English a lot in terms of structure. Are you from there?

[@xiaoyisi]

@@FrenchinPlainSight I'm not from Quebec, but I'm now living there

[@lucya8916]

This is super useful. This has been something that has puzzled me (déroutant? 😉). I live in the South of France. My bf and I speak in French all of the time. However I have to explain that I understand all of the words but I don't know what is needed or wanted or needs to be recognised in the situation when he's explaining something. I'm confused. I'm a direct Yorkshire woman so "reading in-between the lines" in either language is tricky for me.

[@momato7246]

Merci, Alex! I make this error all the time. This video really clarified it for me. Je ne suis plus perdu!

[@thedavidguy01]

Salut Alex. I usually say "je suis perplexe" but the meaning is not as strong as "je suis perdu/paumé". It's more like "I'm puzzled". I've also used "rendre quelqu'un perplexe".

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Ah oui. J'ai entendu ça. Merci David.

[@PierreMiniggio]

"Je suis perplexe" 's meaning is a bit different. It can be understood as "Je suis perdu", but It can also mean that you doubt what the other person says. In that "doubting" context, "Je suis perplexe" is often used the same way as "Je suis pas sûr" is. Example : " - Hey ! J'sais pas si tu sais, mais tu peux commander cet article sur Amazon plutôt que que sur Ebay, c'est moins cher ! - Je suis perplexe/Je suis pas sûr, quand j'ai regardé les prix sur Amazon y'a 2 semaines, c'était 10€ plus cher que celui que j'ai trouvé sur Ebay. - Ah, peut être que les prix ont changé alors, j'suis quasi sûr que c'était moins cher avant ! " But you'll more often hear "je suis pas sûr", than "je suis perplexe"

[@326Alan]

So interesting to note that ‘perplexed’ sounds very strong in English (much more than e.g. ‘you lost me’)

[@BGTuyau]

Très pratique, comme toujours ...

[@theamazingbatboy]

Lived there for 9 years, working in a French company and get by ok but this came up quite often for me too. You just have to consciously train yourself it's not the French expression, like a bunch of common things; in the bus>on the bus; I have cold etc.

[@jisoochoi1400]

Thank you so much! I just started studying French and this helps me a lot.

[@julienbergerat6044]

Just one thing if not already said: je suis confus or je suis confuse means actually something: it’s a very polite and formal way of saying I’m sorry. Je suis désolé je suis confus have the same meaning. But it’s very formal so no wonder you may not have heard about it yet.

[@BPCost]

Bonjour Alex - this is a great video. Like you this 'confused' topic has bothered me for ages and you've nailed it here! Merci beaucoup!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Je suis content que tu ne sois plus *perdu* Brandon. :D

[@Rowenband]

I learn English listening you which is very fun.

[@Qbe_Root]

The only way you'll hear "confus" in France is as a pretty formal and old-fashioned way to say you're sorry. That or when talking about Pokémon status conditions.

[@mikakot.8784]

Hi, in Quebec, we say Je suis mêlé Do you hear that in France?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Une française vient de me dire que non on ne le dit pas en France. Voilà voilà :)

[@ilabudiambu1419]

yeah that sounds odd but people will understand with the context.

[@s0phie12]

I have been looking for a video like that for a while but for a very different reason. I'm French but I have been living in the UK for over 8 years now and I quite often use English words in French especially when the word does sound like it could be French (like confused and confus!). I am sure many bilingual people have that issue. I have been repeatedly told that 'je suis confuse' is not French but it comes to mind so fast that I keep on making the mistake. I still feel like 'comprends/compris' and 'perdu' do not have the same impact as 'confused' but I will train my brain to say that instead!

[@wanderlust16]

As a bilingual living in English Canada, I totally relate. I found this video enlightening!

[@connorwalton2020]

Je kiffe ta chaîne !

[@lenazhou7335]

Salut Alex , Merci encore de votre video . Je suis perdu la phrase entre " je me suis paumée et je suis paumée" .

[@raftours]

Super clear

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Merci. Donc je ne t'ai pas perdu ;)

[@Phagocytosis]

6:12 Shouldn't that be "rendu"?

[@Vacuon]

"Je suis confus" has the connotation that the confusion was provoked, you would say that after being knocked over the head, or being scammed, or in a very rare case (like someone mentioned) if you acted wrong without intent and you are sorry. In every case it has a negative aura, and it's probably why it's not a good idea to use it. As an English speaker you also have to realize that formalism is way more developed in French than in English; you can't say "tu" (you) to your boss. I think the best thing to say when you don't understand is "pardon?". It will work everywhere, from the club to the office. If you say "je suis paumé" in an interview, you will not be called back. It might sound ridiculous, but it is what it is.

[@NatA-xd4cc]

Je confirme, en français on ne dit pas "tu m'as rendu perdu"... Peu de gens utilisent "c'est déroutant"

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Merci

[@jaceny3077]

This was very well done!

[@jeromedubreuil3266]

En français, on peut aussi dire « ça me mélange »

[@NuitÉtoilée-0]

??? Je n'ai jamais entendu ça 😅...

[@jeromedubreuil3266]

@@NuitÉtoilée-0 je suis québécois c’est peut-être pour ça

[@Kafei2006]

Also the first word I'd use to say "confusing" is "incompréhensible", it literally means it's "impossible to understand". In casual speech I'd sooner use that word over "déroutant" or "pas clair". If I did use the word "déroutant", I'd fear people listening to me may think I'm trying to talk fancy or something.

[@borromine]

How about “Je ne vous suis pas “? To me I am confused and I do not understand are very different. But I guess “pas Clair” covers a lot of ground in French!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Sure, that would be a good way to say it too!

[@jojotroucuar2571]

Bonjour. Je suis Français et pour moi : "je suis confus" de manière plus commune est une façon de dire je suis désolé d'avoir effectué une action malheureuse, ou prononcé un mot blessant, c'est une forme d'excuse un peu comme en anglais "I'm sorry ", il y a d'ailleurs un expression "rouge de confusion" qui décrit bien cela. "Je suis confus" je suis désolé et embarrassé de m'être trompé. Votre vidéo correspond plutôt à la définition du verbe "confondre" qui effectivement indique que l'on a mal compris quelque chose.

[@praxyseory4578]

As a French speaker, I think the situation where I saw "confus" the most is when my Pokémon hurt themselves in their confusion X)

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Exactly! It's "dazed" or "disoriented".

[@cefnonn]

Le mot qui me vient à l'esprit est "perplexe" et "perplexant".

[@NYCHeartandSoul]

Je suis confus. Ça veut dire plutôt je suis déconcerté, troublé… So I can well imagine people not quite knowing how to respond! It would kind of be like saying I’m embarrassed or upset in English. But je suis paumé, sweet. I’ll have to use that one . Thanks. Par exemple un patelin paumé!

[@thierryf67]

very french sentence... more, you can use "un bled paumé" bled is arabic word borrowed by french since years... that means in french a village, a place as "patelin", which is nice but outdated.

[@Machobravo]

Good in - again, you’re sorta addicting. East addiction. Makes me feel like I oughta be struggling more with the great “native” French speakers KZbin’s .Oh, what the hell…….

[@sgrant9814]

I do not understand, in either present or passe compose, in english, is not the same as saying i am confused Not understanding is a definite , confused is ambiguous.

[@aussieevonne7857]

I've had the same experience learning Dutch. I moved to NL 27 years ago. Dutch is very different to French, but as an English speaker, if you try to translate from English directly into Dutch, or French (or German, or other languages for that matter) I've found that you could be right, or you could be very wrong. I've experienced that with many words. Much as you can't directly translate "I'm confused" into French (as we've seen in your video) you also can't directly translate it into Dutch (as one probably can't translate it into many languages). In Dutch, it results in "Ik ben in de war/ ik ben verwaard = I'm disoriented, I'm lacking any context or sense". If you were in a mental health emergency, for example, it's fair to say you might be "in de war/ verwaard" = confused. In fact. I think "confuus" is a medical term in Dutch, meaning someone who's (maybe temporarily) psychologically detatched from reality. In short, In Dutch it's better to say "Ik snap het niet" (= I don't understand (it)) for I don't understand / I'm confused. ("Snappen" is one verb for "to understand".) Where other languages mean "confused" to mean a mental state, the English use of "confused" has extended to mean personal misunderstanding.

[@buxtonrichard8180]

C'est pas évident... ,;-)

[@oneeyejack2]

if you say "je suis confus" : it kind of means "I don't make sens".. usually, it's messages, texts that are "confus" in french : meaning they don't make sense. Like a badly organized speech, when people don't understand it, it's "un discours confus".. I guess "confus" would be closer to "confusing".. (ah yes and it also means "sorry", like I'm so sorry i don't know what to say)

[@Bombur888]

You can actually say "je suis confus" in French, but it has a different meaning, or two actually: it's either a rather posh way to mean disoriented, not in a right state of mind, or a very polite way to say "I'm sorry".

[@davidlalto]

You can say « Je suis confus », but it's a more formal way (or maybe an old-fashioned way) to say « Je suis désolé ». Je suis confus car je ne vous ai pas compris.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

I admit that I didn't know this but I love it

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

I saw it in Dix Pour Cent tonight.

[@mimsoplusss876]

I agree of course and I laugh because I remember a very known movie in france , with a joke (mix betwen confus & excuse). kzbin.info/www/bejne/faK4eHh_rrqUnsk

[@annettedu75]

Hi , effectivement "je suis confus" has a totally different meaning. Etre confus means being not understandable. You are trying to express something but your thought seems blurred. Ex :Tu es trop confus là, je ne comprends rien à ce que tu dis. Other meaning, "je suis confus" is a way to express apologies, to say I'm sorry. Ex your dog messes up your neighbor's carpet who happens to be an uptight old lady, then "Je suis confus" is the perfect thing to say, a bit old fashioned but very apologetic. Good to know when to use it. Ca peut servir et si on le place bien le "je suis confus" peut vous tirer d'un mauvais pas. Bravo pour vos videos!

[@Kafei2006]

I'd say as a native speaker that the word "confus" is typically not applied to people. Maybe it was, centuries ago or something, but these days, it would never occur to me to apply the adjective to a person. The idea of "confusion" would come in the expression "semer la confusion" (spread confusion), you would use the expression in broadly the same instances you would use the English equivalent, but such expressions may sound posh in your mouth if used in speech so I would save it for the context of written narration, news articles and the like. Then the word "confus" itself could probably be used in the sentence "c'est confus" to express that what you are hearing or looking at is hard for you to understand. But if I say it out loud, it sounds old fashioned to my native ears. I have heard it used by other natives in the past for sure, but I can't hear it without thinking "who speaks like that these days?". So I'd say all in all, if you're gonna use the word "confus", it would not be applied to a person but to a situation or the words of the person in front of you, but definitely not to yourself... and even then you'll come across as old fashioned or speaking "textbook" French. EDIT: Ah yes, and as someone said it below "je suis confus" is indeed used to denote being sorry for causing grief to a person... but if you use that sentence, you'll come across as overly polite, perhaps even a bit "forced" as that too is somewhat old fashioned (hence why it didn't even occur to me that we do indeed use it like that). If you want to pass for a Parisian, definitely don't apologise by saying "Je suis confus", in fact in that case you should probably not apologise at all XD.

[@ericlind6581]

Les français plus âgés disent je suis confus. Par example je suis confus par tes paroles. Tu dis peut-être « qui parle comme ça aujourd’hui »…mais ils disent « Les jeunes d’aujourd’hui ne parlent plus un bon français ».

[@jvphilip]

What about "je m'ai confondu"?

[@manueladocef9781]

Je me sens confondue, c'est mieux ça, peut-être?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Non ça ne marche pas.

[@jvphilip]

@@FrenchinPlainSight d'accord! merci.

[@ash_m_]

Merci pour les nouvelles expressions ! Tu utilises lequel le plus fréquemment ? Je dis généralement "J'suis désolé, j'ai pas compris", mais je voudrais améliorer mon vocabulaire. Please let me know if any of my French sounds strange! Thanks :)

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Ton français dans ce commentaire est parfait :). Et je dis exactement ce que tu dis !

[@anniejolu7641]

Une petite faute ... laquelle utilises- tu ? Le mot (Désolé ) , beaucoup trop utilisé , veut plutôt dire, attristé, inconsolable , affligé. Les gens l'emploie pour un 'oui pour un non au lieu de dire : pardon , excusez- moi , veuillez m'excuser et surtout on ne dit jamais : je m'excuse....😢 Ce sont les français qui ne savent pas parler qui le disent. Car on ne peut pas s' excuser soi même mais être excuser par quelqu'un(e). En espérant t'avoir été utile.😊

[@anniejolu7641]

Les gens l'emploient

[@fredquinn3919]

Does anyone use some form of the verb "suivre" to indicate that they didn't follow what was said....or is it translated too literally to mean physically following someone or some trail...?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Yes you can absolutely use it for that. It's also used for follow up. "Un mail de suivi" is a follow up email. And "une lettre suivie" is a tracked letter.

[@bronzinorns]

You can totally use "suivre" figuratively. It can mean 'pay attention to': "suivre un film, une conversation", 'watch every episode' like in "suivre une série" or even 'do a follow-up' : "le médecin suit le patient"

[@azyuu5715]

bizarre pourtant j'utilise souvent "je suis confuse" 🤔

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Il y a une nuance entre je suis perdu et je suis confus. La plupart du temps quand les anglophones souhaitent exprimer "I'm confused" en français car ils n'ont pas compris, la bonne traduction c'est "Je suis perdu". Je ne dis pas que "je suis confus" n'existe pas :)

[@caroleschule3523]

"Je suis confus/e" signifie aussi ou surtout" je suis désolé/e".

[@Foulon0215]

Now I’m confused! LOL. Is it J’ai pas compris” or Je n’ai pas compris”?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

A technically correct negative sentence involves ne and pas, but in practical terms, the French hardly ever say the ne out loud. So, they're both correct. You get to choose which French you speak.

[@Matty88K]

What's wrong with confondue? That means confused. To make someone confused you would say confondre. Embrouiller is to muddle. Confus actually means embarrassed. Paumé means lost, but really in the sense of not being able to find the way.

[@watersnake1462]

Euh bah ça dépend du contexte. Tu peux pas utiliser confondre comme on utilise confus. Confondre, c'est quand tu mélanges les choses genre, tu confonds les prénoms de deux personnes parce qu'ils sont similaires.

[@thierryf67]

well, the uses of words in french, depend on the context mostly.

[@casquette1450]

I'm going to disagree with you on that. I'm French and you can say "Je suis confus" c'est le contexe qui change. "Je suis confus" is a bit more formal than "je suis perdu" and even more than "je suis paumé" which is very casual. For instance "Je suis un peu confus par cette situation"" or "Monsieur, je pense que vous etes confus" etc... ti's a bit more elevated language. but you should mention that some of the expressions you are proposing are very casual and shouldn't be used in every settings.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Hi. Thanks for your input. In many of my videos I mention that I teach "le français de tous les jours". Perhaps I neglected to mention it in this one. I will thin to do it in the future.

[@casquette1450]

N'importe quoi? Je suis confus.

[@mikhaeljanson9335]

Je suis "confusionné" ! ;-)

[@ilikepingpong]

-- MÉLANGER -- je suis MÉLANGÉ.E quelque chose est MÉLANGEANT.E (mixed up / scrambled / jumbled)

[@NuitÉtoilée-0]

Je n'ai jamais entendu ça en France... 😳

[@ilikepingpong]

@@NuitÉtoilée-0 J'habite au Canada, au Québec.

[@AlbertoGomez-oi5ou]

j'sus natif en espagnol mais je peux parler en cefran et confus ça me suis rendu compte comme en espagnol "'confundido" on l'utilise seulement par les emotions ... comment tu te sens

[@aldozilli1293]

Confundido in Spanish is used exactly the same as in English, but in French the sense is slightly different.

[@AlbertoGomez-oi5ou]

@@aldozilli1293 but in spanish we don't use "estoy confundido" for simple things, we say other type of expressions like "no entendi" "otra vez por favor"

[@amandarose2798]

I learned “Tu n'as pas compris (tant pis)” from the Charles Aznavour song For Me Formidable. Turn it into a question to acknowledge you know you just totally got it wrong désolé. Merci, Charles (et Alex).

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Haha. Wonderful! How would you turn it into a question?

[@amandarose2798]

@@FrenchinPlainSight um just rising intonation because I am very lazy

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Ironic but I didn't actually understand the connection between the two sentences in your first message! Yes that's a good plan

[@Mr.Edd3905]

if you said 'je suis confused', how would someone react? :)

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Depends if they know English :). I speak franglais and for utility for fun with my friends all the time.

[@bronzinorns]

If you say "je suis confus", people will say "c'est pas grave" - not because they don't care if you didn't understand, but because it means that you are embarrassed and sorry (typically after a misunderstanding)

[@PaulKitching11]

Listen, my partner is French and even he can’t really explain it to me or even understand it himself. He just knows, intuitively of course. Nightmare. 😂

[@jadorealissawhite-gluz5706]

Merci beaucoup pour la video. Qu’est-ce que tu penses du mot mélangé comme traduction pour confused et mélangeant pour confusing?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Tu peux dire "J'ai tout mélangé" pour dire "I mixed everything up" soit dans le sens physique soit dans le sens figuratif. Tu peux pas dire "je suis mélangé" par contre.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Tu peux dire "J'ai tout mélangé" pour dire "I mixed everything up" soit dans le sens physique soit dans le sens figuratif. Tu peux pas dire "je suis mélangé" par contre.

[@corinne471]

Tu peux dire "je me suis mélangé.e les pinceaux"

[@ROCKINGMAN]

I thought it was 'Je rien compris''! Meaning I'm confused by the whole thing.

[@erikacarrillo9796]

I know this is random but can someone tell me if it’s become more popular to say « Je suis excité » i have some friends that say that to mean they are excited/content.. i also heard this in a school podcast.. but when I learned French 6 years ago my professor told me that this ways naughty to say.. any French input here please? Car je suis perdu la

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Hi Erika. De plus en plus ça prend le sens anglais mais personnellement, je trouve que le sens d'origine est toujours le plus répandu donc je fais attention quand je l'utilise. Par contre, tu trouveras cette vidéo de Inner French très éclairante. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5KbmnWjgdOpjs0

[@bronzinorns]

You should not really said that, it might be less explicit than what it used to be, it might still be not without ... connotation.

[@anaiscardot6674]

Actually, you can say "je suis confus/e" instead of "je ne comprends pas", but it sounds a bit outdated ^^ I use it when I really want to put emphasis on the fact that je ne comprends pas ^^ And they use it in Pokemon (the games) too ^^ For example "Pikachu est confus, il ne peut pas attaquer"

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Ah yes but "Pikachu est confus" isn't expressing that he doesn't understand. It's because he was hit too hard and now he is "désorienté". Disoriented. Another use of confused.

[@thierryf67]

@@FrenchinPlainSight may be it's a bad translation, via english.... remember that Pikachu is not a native frenchspeaker 🙂

[@robertmurray4724]

Rendre perdu isn’t correct. Ça se dit pas. C’est plutôt « je t’ai perdu(e) » ou « tu m’as perdu(e) » .

[@MethenySco]

I disagree, as a very advanced French speaker living in the country for over 10 years , je suis confus is a perfectly acceptable way of expressing confusion. I hear it all the time from native speakers….Don’t know where you get the notion it’s bad French….

[@qamarrossini]

Could the disagreement here be due to regional and/ or. class differences ?

[@MethenySco]

@Real Aiglon I stand corrected, but only slightly...The correct expression is 'je me sens confus" and this means 'I feel confused' in English. Several trustworthy online sources give this translation, which is good enough for me. I might add that je suis confus has entered the language to mean confused, perhaps under the influence of English. Whether that should be accepted or not as correct, or just another English calque to avoid, is another debate. To avoid any "confusion" and for the sake of exactitude one might say 'je suis perplexe", which is not mentioned in this video.

[@DeborahBoily]

I use je suis perdu all the time...

[@jipej9810]

Quand je séjourne chez mes hôtes anglais AirBnB près d' Angoulème (France) j'ai un petit message d'accueil : "Monsieur J., c'est ravi de vous revoir" . c'est mignon mais, comment dire ? c'est mal formulé .....

[@wanderlust16]

On ne comprends pas ce que vous demander. Pourrez vous dire d'une autre facon?

[@bertrandlechevalier4686]

@@wanderlust16 je voulais dire : la bonne formule est : "nous sommes ravis de vous revoir " et non pas "c'est ravi de vous revoir" .....

[@chicagoman58]

Why not say, “je suis embrouillé “?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

I guess you could, but I don't think they ever say that.

[@ptigilou1]

Allez en francais familier: je comprend pas = j'entrave que dalle! je bite rien ! je pige pas un cake! la on rentre dans le Dark French bon courage!

[@jjavillasenor]

Je suis embrouillé

[@marienova700]

Or you can just say Hêêê???

[@richardharris8867]

Je suis confus means I am embarassed.

[@cmolodiets]

"Je suis confus" means "I'm extremely sorry"

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Ah bon ?? Why?

[@baronmeduse]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Because the second meaning of 'confus' is: shame/embarrassment (usually at the failure to comprehend something). So it's along the lines of: 'to my great embarrassment/I was mistaken!'

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

I saw this in Dix Pour Cent tonight! Funny how things like that happen.

[@cyruschang1904]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Je suis confus d'arriver si tard = I am embarrassed of being so late 😀

[@emailvonsour]

@@FrenchinPlainSight How on Earth are you making videos explaining this without even knowing what it means??

[@weihu8314]

Are you a native French speaker? Because your English is as native as it could be!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

No I'm an English guy who learned French as an adult. My French is not perfect but I hope to inspire other learners to keep going with their French by sharing my experience.

[@martinbennett2228]

Je suis obfusqué.

[@manueladocef9781]

That's a bit like saying you are offended. Also written "offusqué" in French.

[@thierryf67]

"obfusquer" is no more used in french in this meanning, i had to search in a dictionnary to understand. It's only used nowadays in information technology (programming) when a data is partly masked to make it non readable.

[@57Mamini]

Je suis confus = je suis désolé , excusez moi ! Il est confus = il n'est pas clair... 2 sens différents de confus !!

[@hungrydachshund8236]

'Rendre perdu " doesn't exist.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

If a foreigner said it, and the person knew they were foreign, they would understand them.

[@hungrydachshund8236]

@@FrenchinPlainSight The same way they would understand "je suis confus" then. I just find it a bit counterproductive to give phrases that are wrong.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

@@hungrydachshund8236 I understand your skepticism. Here's some context for you to help you understand my choice. My target audience are English speakers who tend to need to be reminded of the importance of putting communication first, ahead of perfect sentences. It is my hope that showing them that it's better to say something imperfect but understandable and keep a conversation going, is better than freezing up and saying nothing because they're afraid of not saying the exact perfect thing. Voilà voilà.

[@Torontogal777]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Exactly! I'm glad you're not over complicating this subject. We beginners just need short, sensible, practical yet correct phrases to learn. Much appreciated!

[@markhathaway9456]

Les Français parlent plus dynamiquement que les parleurs anglais. Ils ont fait où nous sommes. C'est l'état contre l'action. Au moins c'est l'apparence. bonjour.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

J'avoue de ne pas avoir trop compris ton commentaire Mark après la première phrase. Tu peux le reformuler s'il te plaît?

[@markhathaway9456]

​@@FrenchinPlainSight Je essayerai. En français c'est «j'ai quelque chose» alors que en anglais c'est «je suis quelque chose» beaucoup de temps. C'est faisant plutôt que étant. Mais c'est juste la grammaire.

[@baronmeduse]

Oui, c'est le cas de plusieurs langues européennes. Mais cela n'a aucun effet du tout sur le coeur du sens. Des phrases comme: I'm hungry/j'ai faim/ik heb honger (néerlandais)/ho fame (italien) ne sont pas différent au fondement. Ils sont toutes un état d'être: J'ai (le sentiment d'être/que je suis) faim.

[@markhathaway9456]

@@baronmeduse merci

[@maecr2848]

Are you a gamer ?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Nope

[@aquelpibe]

If you are going to make a video on how to say "confused" in French, it is not a good idea to say you do not know if "confus" means something else or is just not commonly used. Do your homework.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

My target audience know I'm a foreigner (like them) learning French. They appreciate that I'm honest with them about not being perfect.

[@aquelpibe]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Point taken.

[@984francis]

Je suis fucked.

[@MrLaulaulaulau]

I suppose you’re not a French teacher but just a KZbinr who happens to blog about the French language. Regardless, you could have made the effort of looking up confus in a rectangular object known as a dictionary. It means embarrassed and sorry. Je suis confus means I am so sorry. However confus can mean blurred, disorderly, confusing, if applied to an object. Get a dictionary!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

The video was not supposed to talk about all meanings of "confus". Just the most common meaning of "confused" that English speakers try to translate to French.

[@bronzinorns]

Quelle agressivité ! D'accord, la vidéo aurait pu être l'occasion d'expliquer en quoi "je suis confus" est un faux-ami qui transmet bien la notion d'embarras et d'excuses, mais ce n'était pas exactement le sujet. Sinon je suis tombé par hasard sur cette chaîne par la vidéo sur le verbe falloir et tout y était très finement expliqué.

[@marialuisamalnero2711]

You might as well be more polite.!

[@joeycrunch]

About “prendre qqn. pour qqn.” - we actually *can* say “take [someone] for [someone else]” in English, just it’s usually only said directly to the person you mistook (usually in surprise): “oh, I took you for Jessica!” to mean “oh, I thought you were Jessica.” 🥸 Alternatively, we also see it in more figurative phrases like “I took you for a man of your word” where the [somebody else] is replaced with the type of character you thought they possessed. 🤗