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La météo (part 1)

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"Il fait" + noun

In this section, we are using “il fait,” which means “it does” followed by an adjective. There are more ways available to talk about the weather using this section. The adverb “très” can be used after “il fait” to translate “really.”

French English
Il fait beau The weather is nice
Il fait bon The weather is good/pleasant
Il fait chaud The weather is hot
Il fait doux The weather is mild
Il fait froid The weather is cold
Il fait humide The weather is humid
Il fait mauvais The weather is bad
Il fait moche The weather is miserable
Il fait nuageux The weather is cloudy
Il fait soleil The weather is sunny

Note

Some of these adjectives can also be used to describe other things. “Moche” means “ugly,” “bon” means “good” for tastes, smells and abilities, “mauvais” is the opposite of “bon”, and it means bad. “Beau” means “beautiful”, and “doux” means “sweet or soft.”

Using “il fait” + adjective in a sentence

You can say two of the above sentences in a row. In this case, if the two adjectives describe a type of weather that is complementary, they are linked with “et” (and) and the second sentence doesn’t need “il fait.” However, if the two adjectives describe a type of weather that is not complementary, they are linked with “mais” (but) and here it is better to use “il fait” twice.

For example:
Il fait beau et chaud →
The weather is nice and hot.
Il fait soleil mais il fait froid →
The weather is sunny, but it is cold.

Verbs

In this section, we are using verbs only. The verbs below can only be used to talk about the weather. More verbs can be found in the language to describe the weather.

Geler

Infinitive → Geler → To freeze
Present simple → Il gèle → It freezes
Present continuous → Il gèle → It's freezing

Grêler

Infinitive → Grêler → To hail
Present simple → Il grêle → It hails
Present continuous → Il grêle → It’s hailing

Neiger

Infinitive → Neiger → To snow
Present simple → Il neige → It snows
Present continuous → Il neige → It’s snowing

Pleuvoir

Infinitive → Pleuvoir → To rain
Present simple → Il pleut → It rains
Present continuous → Il pleut → It’s raining

Note

The French word for “snow” is “la neige,” the one for “rain” is “la pluie.” The French word for “hail” is “la grêle” and the one for “freeze” is “le gel.”

Using the verbs in a sentence

In French, we prefer to use the present tense instead of the continuous present (verb with -ing in English). So, for example “il neige” means “it snows” but we will also use it to translate “it is snowing.” All these verbs describe a wintery weather, if you want to use two in a row use “et.” As they are verb removing “il” after “et” is not possible.  

For example:
Il neige et il gèle → It is snowing, and it is freezing.

“Il y a” + article + noun

In this section, we are using “il y a” which means “there is” or “there are” followed by an article and a noun. The article must be a partitive article. Partitive articles are “du”, “de la”, “de l’” and “des”. They mean “some” for uncountable nouns.

French English
Il y a de l’orage (masc.) It is stormy/there is a storm
Il y a des éclairs (masc.) There is lightning
Il y a du brouillard It is foggy/there is fog
Il y a du tonnerre There is thunder
Il y a du vent It is windy/there is wind

Note

You can find the lesson on partitive articles in this book. When “des” is followed by a vowel or “h” use a “z” link.

Using “il y a” + article + noun in a sentence

You can say two of the above sentences in a row. In this case, if the two types of weather are complementary use “et” (and) to link them and do not use “il y a” for the second sentence.However, if the two types of weather are not complementary use “mais” (but) to link them and use “il y a” after “mais.” The articles stay.  

For example:
Il y a du tonnerre et des éclairs →
There are thunder and lightning.
Il y a du vent mais il y a du brouillard →
There is wind but there is fog.

Notes

In the spoken language, in informal situations, “il y a” is usually pronounced “ya.”

You can use this section with “du soleil,” “de la pluie,” “des nuages” or “de la neige.” As “il y a” means “there is” or “there are.” Here you will not describe the weather, but simply what you see.

For example:
Il y a de la neige sur la montagne →
There is snow on the mountain.

More in the books

Werther you are learning by yourself, with Anais and Co or if you are a FLE teacher find this lesson and many more in a beautiful book.

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