Learn Hardcore French: Paul préfère la poésie moderne, surtout les poèmes très courts. - Paul prefers modern poetry, especially very short poems.

Préférer is the infinitive form (to prefer).
In the sentence, the subject is Paul (third person singular, he), so the verb has to be conjugated:

Je préfère
Tu préfères
Il / Elle / On préfère
Nous préférons
Vous préférez
Ils / Elles préfèrent

Since Paul = il, you use préfère. The infinitive préférer would only appear after another verb (for example: Paul aime préférer la poésie moderne, which is strange anyway).

What is the difference between poésie and poèmes?

la poésie = poetry in general, as an art or literary genre (an uncountable noun in English).
les poèmes = poems, individual texts you can count (countable, like one poem, two poems).

So:
Paul préfère la poésie moderne → Paul prefers modern poetry as a genre.
… surtout les poèmes très courts → especially very short individual poems within that genre.

Why do we use la in la poésie moderne? In English we don’t say “the modern poetry” here.

French often uses the definite article (le, la, les) when talking about things in a general way, where English drops the:

J’aime le chocolat. → I like chocolate.
Il déteste les araignées. → He hates spiders.

Similarly:

Paul préfère la poésie moderne. → Paul prefers modern poetry (in general).

If you omitted la and just said Paul préfère poésie moderne, it would be incorrect in standard French.

Why is it les poèmes and not des poèmes?

Both can be correct, but they don’t mean exactly the same:

les poèmes très courts = very short poems as a type / category (in general).
→ surtout les poèmes très courts = especially (the type of) very short poems.
des poèmes très courts = some very short poems (an unspecified quantity).

In this sentence, les is used because we’re talking about a kind of poem that Paul particularly likes, not just “some” short poems he happened to read.

Why is poésie feminine and poèmes masculine? How can I tell?

You mostly have to learn the gender of each noun, but there are patterns:

la poésie (feminine) – ends in -ie
un poème / les poèmes (masculine) – ends in -ème

Many nouns ending in -ie are feminine:
la biologie, la philosophie, la chimie, la poésie

Many nouns ending in -ème are masculine:
un problème, un système, un poème, un thème

These are tendencies, not 100% rules, but they help.

Why is the adjective after the noun in les poèmes très courts and not before it?

In French, most adjectives come after the noun:

un livre intéressant (an interesting book)
une ville dangereuse (a dangerous city)

A small group of frequent adjectives (often called BANGS/BAGS: beauty, age, number, goodness, size) usually go before the noun: beau, joli, jeune, vieux, premier, bon, mauvais, grand, petit, etc.

Court (short) is not one of these common “before-noun” adjectives, so it normally follows the noun:

un poème court = a short poem
les poèmes très courts = very short poems

Why is it très courts and not très court?

Adjectives in French agree in gender and number with the noun:

un poème court (masc. sing.)
des poèmes courts (masc. plural)
une histoire courte (fem. sing.)
des histoires courtes (fem. plural)

Here, poèmes is masculine plural, so court must also be masculine plural → courts.

Très (very) never changes; only court agrees and takes -s.

Why do we use très and not beaucoup with courts?

très is used with adjectives and adverbs:
- très court (very short)
- très grand (very tall)
- très vite (very quickly)
beaucoup is used mostly with verbs and nouns:
- Il lit beaucoup. (He reads a lot.)
- Il a beaucoup de livres. (He has many books.)

Since court is an adjective, you say très court, not beaucoup court.

What exactly does surtout mean here? Is it the same as “especially”?

In this context, surtout means especially / particularly / above all.

Paul préfère la poésie moderne, surtout les poèmes très courts.
→ Paul prefers modern poetry, especially very short poems.

It signals the thing he likes most within the larger category. Alternatives with a similar meaning:

en particulier = in particular
particulièrement = particularly

But surtout is very natural and common here.

Could we move surtout to another place, like in English?

You have some flexibility, but not every position sounds natural.

Paul préfère la poésie moderne, surtout les poèmes très courts.
(most natural)
Paul préfère surtout les poèmes très courts de la poésie moderne.
(more emphasis on “what he especially prefers is the very short poems”.)

But something like:

Paul surtout préfère la poésie moderne

is unusual and sounds wrong in standard French. In general, surtout most often appears:

before a noun phrase: surtout les poèmes très courts
or before a verb phrase / clause: surtout quand il est fatigué.

Why is there a comma before surtout?

The comma separates:

The main statement: Paul préfère la poésie moderne
A clarifying or emphasizing detail: surtout les poèmes très courts

In writing, the comma helps show that surtout les poèmes très courts is an added specification, not part of the core verb phrase.

You could write it without the comma in casual writing, but the version with a comma is clearer and more standard.

How do you pronounce préfère, poésie, and poèmes?

Approximate English-like pronunciation (not strict phonetics):

Paul préfère → “pol pray-FAIR”
- préfère: the final -e is pronounced; r is guttural (in the throat).
la poésie → “la po-ay-ZEE”
- Three syllables: po-é-sie.
les poèmes → “lay po-EM”
- The final -s in poèmes is silent.
- les sounds like “lay”.

In connected speech, you’ll often hear it flow as:
Paul préfère la poésie moderne, surtout les poèmes très courts.
with no strong pauses except at the comma.

Could we say Paul aime mieux la poésie moderne instead of Paul préfère la poésie moderne?

You can, and it’s grammatically correct:

aimer mieux = to like better
préférer = to prefer

In practice:

Paul préfère la poésie moderne.
is clear, neutral, and very common.
Paul aime mieux la poésie moderne.
sounds a bit more informal / conversational and slightly less direct.

Both express a preference; préférer is the straightforward verb to use.