Le jeudi, la séance est plus courte parce que tout le monde est fatigué.

On Thursdays, the session is shorter because everyone is tired.

Breakdown of Le jeudi, la séance est plus courte parce que tout le monde est fatigué.

• être: to be
• parce que: because
• fatigué: tired
• plus: more
• tout le monde: everyone
• court: short
• la séance: the session
• le jeudi: the Thursday

Questions & Answers about Le jeudi, la séance est plus courte parce que tout le monde est fatigué.

Why does the sentence use Le jeudi instead of just Jeudi?

In French, le + day of the week usually means “on Thursdays / every Thursday” (a habitual action).

• Le jeudi, la séance est plus courte.
  = On Thursdays, the session is shorter (every Thursday).

If you say just Jeudi, la séance est plus courte, it usually means “(this) Thursday, the session is shorter”, referring to one specific Thursday, not a regular habit.

Could we also say Les jeudis, la séance est plus courte? What is the difference?

Yes, you can say Les jeudis, la séance est plus courte, and it is still understandable as “On Thursdays, the session is shorter.”

However:

• Le jeudi is the most common way to express a regular action each Thursday.
• Les jeudis slightly emphasizes the plural days (all the different Thursdays), and can sound a bit more formal or stylistic, but it is less common in everyday speech.

For a learner, use Le jeudi for “on Thursdays” in habitual statements.

What exactly does la séance mean here, and how is it different from other words like cours or réunion?

Séance is a general word for a session / period / sitting of an activity:

• a class session
• a therapy session
• a cinema screening
• a meeting session, etc.

Some contrasts:

• un cours = a class / lesson (focus on teaching and learning)
• une réunion = a meeting (people gather to discuss something)
• une séance = a session of an activity (class, therapy, sport, cinema), often with a fixed start and end time

In a school or training context, la séance is often one time-block of class or training, not the whole course.

Why is it la séance est plus courte and not la séance est plus court?

Adjectives in French must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

• la séance is feminine singular
• the basic adjective is court (short)
• feminine singular form: courte (add -e)

So you must say:

• La séance est plus courte. ✔
  The session is shorter.

If the noun were masculine, you would say:

• Le cours est plus court. ✔
  The class is shorter.

How does plus courte work? Is it the same as saying “shorter” in English?

Yes. In French, the regular comparative is formed with plus + adjective:

• court = short
• plus court / plus courte = shorter
• moins court / moins courte = less short
• aussi court / aussi courte = as short

So:

• La séance est plus courte.
  = The session is shorter.

There is no single word like English shorter; you always use plus + adjective.

Why does the sentence use parce que? Could we use car or puisque instead?

Parce que is the most neutral, everyday way to say “because”, introducing a cause:

• La séance est plus courte parce que tout le monde est fatigué.
  The session is shorter because everyone is tired.

You could say:

• … car tout le monde est fatigué. – more written, a bit more formal.
• … puisque tout le monde est fatigué. – often implies “since / given that,” when the reason is already known or obvious.

For most spoken French and for learners, parce que is the safest, most natural choice.

Why is it tout le monde est fatigué and not tout le monde sont fatigués?

In French, tout le monde (everybody / everyone) is grammatically singular, even though it refers to many people.

So the verb is in the 3rd person singular:

• Tout le monde est fatigué. ✔
• Tout le monde sont fatigués. ✘ (incorrect)

It works like English “everybody is tired”, not “everybody are tired.”

Why is fatigué masculine singular? Shouldn’t it agree with “everyone,” which includes women too?

Grammatically, tout le monde is treated as masculine singular, so the adjective takes the masculine singular form:

• Tout le monde est fatigué. ✔

Even if the group is mixed or mostly women, tout le monde itself does not change gender or number.

If you want agreement with the real people, you normally change the subject:

• Nous sommes tous fatigués. (we are all tired – mixed or all men)
• Nous sommes toutes fatiguées. (we are all tired – all women)

Could we move the clause and say La séance est plus courte le jeudi parce que tout le monde est fatigué?

Yes, that word order is perfectly correct:

• Le jeudi, la séance est plus courte parce que tout le monde est fatigué.
• La séance est plus courte le jeudi parce que tout le monde est fatigué.

Both mean the same thing. Putting Le jeudi at the beginning just emphasizes the time (“On Thursdays”) a bit more. French is flexible with placing time expressions at the start or after the verb.

Is the comma after Le jeudi necessary? How does it affect the sentence?

The comma after Le jeudi is standard and recommended because Le jeudi is a fronted time expression:

• Le jeudi, la séance est plus courte…

In many short sentences, native speakers might omit the comma in informal writing, but in careful writing it is better to include it. It doesn’t change the meaning; it just marks a short pause, like in English:

• On Thursdays, the session is shorter…