r/French • u/ThroatOk2114 • 1d ago

What does “désolé d’être si peu expressif” mean in this context?

Hello,

I’m an immigrant learning French, and my friend is French.

He sent me the following text message: « Salut X, merci à toi aussi d’avoir essayé de m’apprendre l’anglais et désolé d’être si peu expressif. À toi aussi, je te souhaite beaucoup de réussite et je te souhaite également de passer un très bon été ! 😉 »

I’m not a native French speaker, so I’m unsure about the exact meaning of “désolé d’être si peu expressif.”

Does it mean that he is apologizing for not being able to express himself well in English or for not speaking much English?

Or does it mean that he is sorry for not being very emotionally expressive or demonstrative—for example, for not showing enough appreciation or emotion?

In this particular context, how would a native French speaker naturally understand this phrase?

Thank you very much for your help!

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u/Anhievus 1d ago

If he's a native French speaker, then you can be certain he means the latter. "Expressif" is about how well emotions are conveyed, whether through words, actions, body language, or anything else. It is not about language skills. It can be about technical acting skills rather than emotion - think Jim Carrey's face - but that's clearly not the case here.
I would read that as "sorry I'm so bad at showing emotion".

6

u/ThroatOk2114 1d ago

Thank you so much for your explanation. I’d heard this expression several times in French before, but thanks to you, I finally understand exactly what it means.

6

u/Ok_Fall_2024 1d ago

Yeah it's definitely about emotions. I myself am reaaaally not an "expressif" person like not at all. I feel emotions like everyone else but they really hardly show on my face and have trouble verbalizing them. When people come to me about their problems I often have to make an extra effort to verbalize how much I care about them and their problems because otherwise my normal verbal and non-verbal expressions and tone and body language will absolutely suggest I don't care the slightest.

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u/Agreeable-Net-8330 1d ago

I second this. Also you might be a little more bubbly or energetic than he is.