Kilo Lingo

/vʁɛ/

Line drawing of vrai
Coloured illustration of vrai
#128 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

true, real

Word origin

From Vulgar Latin veracus, an alteration of Classical Latin verax ('truthful'), from verus ('true'). The same root gives English 'verify', 'verdict' and 'very'.

Origin
Vulgar Latin
Root
veracus
English cognates
verify, verdict, very

Grammar

Femininevraie
Masc pluralvrais
Fem pluralvraies

Examples

C' , j' .

It's true, I should have warned you before leaving this morning.

.

She found a real stable job after several months of searching.

- Picasso ?

Is this painting a genuine Picasso or a copy?

Bretagne.

My real father still lives in Brittany.

- ?

Is it true that you are moving soon?

est un adjectif (féminin : vraie) qui signifie true ou real/genuine. Placé avant le nom, il insiste sur l'authenticité ou l'intensité : un vrai ami (a real/true friend), une vraie catastrophe (a real disaster). Placé après le nom ou après le verbe être, il exprime la vérité : c'est vrai.

À vrai dire (to tell the truth, actually) est une locution adverbiale de correction ou de précision. Pour de vrai (for real, genuinely) est familier. Vrai de vrai est un superlatif populaire : un ami vrai de vrai (a truly genuine friend). L'antonyme est faux (false, fake).

Where this fits

The 1,000 most common French words

Where this word sits in the core vocabulary, and what to learn around it.

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Used in

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vrai: worksheet, infographic and listicle

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This word is part of lesson 3.