Weather & Seasons
Weather & Seasons
French describes weather with a dummy subject il, similar to English's dummy 'it' in 'it's raining' — the constructions differ underneath, but the basic idea of a meaningless placeholder subject should already feel familiar.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
il fait... — the impersonal weather construction
Il fait beau. (It's nice out.) — Il fait chaud/froid. (It's hot/cold.)
It's nice out. — It's hot/cold.
For most weather descriptions, French uses il fait + adjective — literally 'it makes...'. English already uses a meaningless placeholder 'it' for weather ('it's raining', 'it's cold'), so the idea of a dummy subject isn't new — but English just pairs 'it' with 'to be' (it IS cold), while French pairs il with faire ('to make/do') for most weather adjectives, which can feel odd since English speakers don't think of weather as something being 'made'.
il pleut, il neige — weather verbs without il fait
Il pleut. (It's raining.) — Il neige. (It's snowing.)
It's raining. — It's snowing.
Rain and snow get their own dedicated verbs, pleuvoir and neiger, used only in this same impersonal il form — you'll never conjugate them for je/tu/nous, exactly like English never says 'I rain' or 'we snow' either. Unlike il fait beau, these don't use fait at all; the weather verb carries the meaning by itself, matching English's own dedicated verbs 'to rain' and 'to snow'.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| il fait beau | eel fay boh | it's nice/sunny out |
| il fait chaud | eel fay shoh | it's hot |
| il fait froid | eel fay frwah | it's cold |
| il pleut | eel pluh | it's raining |
| il neige | eel nezh | it's snowing |
| il y a du vent | eel-yah du vahn | it's windy |
| nuageux | nu-ah-ZHUH | cloudy |
| le printemps | luh pran-TAHN | spring |
| l'été | lay-TAY | summer |
| l'automne | loh-TON | autumn |
| l'hiver | lee-VAIR | winter |