Why do I need to know au courant ?

Because this might come up when making plans with a French person.

What does it mean?

Au courant – roughly pronounced oh core-ahnt – technically translates as ‘at the current’, which does not really make sense. 

In reality, it means ‘to be in the loop’ or to ‘keep someone posted.’ It can also mean to ‘be aware’ generally.

When organising an evening with a French friend, they might say something like on pourra choisir un restaurant plus tard. Je te tiens au courant which means ‘we can choose a restaurant later. I’ll keep you posted’. 

In this context, the verb tenir (to hold) comes before au courant.

It might also be used to describe if someone is up to date on changes or new developments. For example, if you missed a few meetings last week, your boss might say elle n’est pas au courant (she is not up to speed). 

In this context, you would use être (to be) before au courant, as it describes whether or not you are up to date.

While this phrase is colloquial, it is not offensive and is often used in professional settings. 

A popular synonym is the expression tenir au jus.

Although courant does mean ‘current’ in the sense of ‘right now’, if you want to say that something is currently happening that is the classic ‘false friend’ actuellement, which means ‘currently’ rather than ‘actually’.

Use it like this

Je vous tiendrai au courant. Le train est censé arriver à 14h. – I’ll keep you posted. The train is supposed to get in at 2pm.

Tu dois lui raconter toute l’histoire, elle n’est pas au courant. – You need to tell her the whole story, she is not up to date.