Learn Hardcore French: Le week-end, leur priorité reste de voir leurs amis en vrai, sans que le travail les suive partout. - On weekends, their priority is still to see their friends in person, without work following them everywhere.

Le week-end here means “on weekends / at the weekend in general”.
Using le with a time expression often means a habitual or general situation:
- Le lundi, je travaille. = On Mondays, I work.
- Le soir, je lis. = In the evenings, I read.
- Le week-end, leur priorité reste… = On weekends, their priority is still…

If you just said Week-end, leur priorité reste…, it would sound like a fragment (like a title or note), not a normal sentence.

So le is required to make it a natural, complete expression in standard French.

Why is it Le week-end in the singular and not Les week-ends?

French usually uses the singular with the definite article to talk about habits or things that happen regularly:

Le dimanche, je fais du sport. = On Sundays, I work out (habit).
Le matin, il boit du café. = In the mornings, he drinks coffee.

Similarly:

Le week-end, leur priorité reste… = On weekends, their priority remains…

You could say Les week-ends, but it emphasizes individual weekends a bit more, and it’s less idiomatic in this kind of generic sentence. The normal, natural choice for a habitual action is Le week-end (singular).

Is week-end always written with a hyphen, and what gender is it?

Traditionally, it’s:

le week-end (with a hyphen, masculine).

Modern usage also accepts:

le weekend (without hyphen) – you’ll see both in newspapers and online.

But:

It is always masculine:
- un week-end, ce week-end, le week-end prochain.

Why is it leur priorité and not leurs priorités?

It depends on what you want to express:

leur priorité (singular noun) = their main / single priority.
leurs priorités (plural noun) = their various priorities.

Here, the idea is that they have one main priority on the weekend, so priorité is singular.

About leur:

leur (without s) is used before a singular noun, even if multiple people share it:
- leur maison = their (one shared) house
- leur priorité = their (one shared) priority
leurs (with s) is used before a plural noun:
- leurs maisons = their houses
- leurs priorités = their priorities

So:

leur priorité = correct because priorité is singular.

What is the nuance of leur priorité reste de voir instead of leur priorité est de voir?

Both are grammatically correct, but the nuance is different:

leur priorité est de voir leurs amis…
= their priority is to see their friends…
leur priorité reste de voir leurs amis…
= their priority remains / stays to see their friends…

Using reste suggests:

This priority has not changed over time,
or it is still their priority despite other pressures (like work).

So reste adds the idea of continuity or persistence, not just a neutral description.

Why is it reste de voir and not reste à voir?

Here, rester is a linking verb meaning “to remain / to continue to be”, followed by a noun + de + infinitive structure:

la priorité reste de voir…
l’objectif reste de finir…
le plus important reste de comprendre…

In this structure, the common pattern is:

[noun] + reste + de + [infinitive]

Rester à + infinitif exists, but it has another meaning:

Il reste à faire = There remains to do / There is still [something] to do.
Tout reste à inventer = Everything remains to be invented.

In your sentence, we don’t mean “There remains to see their friends”, but “Their priority remains to see their friends”, which takes de.

Why is it leurs amis and not leurs ami or leur ami?

Three different ideas:

leur ami
- singular possessor(s) → one friend
- could be “their friend” (one friend) if several people share that friend:
  - leur ami = their (one) friend
leurs amis
- plural noun → several friends
- leurs agrees with amis (plural):
  - leurs amis = their friends
Why not leur ami in this sentence?
Because the meaning is clearly “friends” (plural), not one friend, so amis must be plural and the possessive must agree:
- leurs amis = each person has friends, or together they have multiple friends.

So leurs amis is correct because they are seeing several friends.

What does en vrai mean exactly, and is it formal?

en vrai literally means “in real [life] / in reality”, but in this context it’s closer to:

“in real life”, “for real, face to face, not online”.

Nuance:

It’s informal / conversational.
Often used in contrast with:
- online interaction (en ligne, sur internet),
- or with something that’s only theoretical or on-screen.

Examples:

Je l’ai déjà vu sur Instagram, mais jamais en vrai.
I’ve already seen him/her on Instagram, but never in real life.
On se parle beaucoup en ligne, mais c’est mieux en vrai.
We talk a lot online, but it’s better in real life.

In more neutral or formal French, you could say:

en personne (in person)
dans la vie réelle / dans la vraie vie (in real life)

Why is it sans que le travail les suive partout and not sans que le travail les suit partout?

Because sans que introduces a clause that requires the subjunctive in French.

suive is the subjunctive present of suivre.
suit is the indicative present.

After sans que, you generally use the subjunctive:

sans que tu le saches = without you knowing it
sans que personne ne comprenne = without anyone understanding
sans que le travail les suive partout = without work following them everywhere

Using sans que + indicative (sans que le travail les suit) is incorrect in standard French.

What does les refer to in le travail les suive partout, and why is it before the verb?

In le travail les suive partout:

les is a direct object pronoun meaning “them”.
It refers back to the people whose priority we’re talking about (the subject implied in leur priorité).

Pronoun position in French:

Direct object pronouns (me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les) go before the conjugated verb:
- le travail les suit = work follows them
- le travail les suivra = work will follow them
- le travail les suive (subjunctive) = work (should) follow them

So the correct order is:

le travail les suive, not le travail suive les.

What does partout add here, and can it go anywhere else in the sentence?

partout means “everywhere”.

In sans que le travail les suive partout:

It emphasizes that work follows them in all places / in every aspect of their lives, not just physically but also metaphorically (emails, notifications, etc.).

Word order:

The most natural position is at the end of the clause:
- le travail les suive partout

You could, in theory, say:

partout, le travail les suit
but that changes focus (emphasis on everywhere at the start) and doesn’t fit as nicely inside sans que.

So in this sentence, partout is best at the end, as written.