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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do French by FrenchPod101.com.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about weather conditions in French.
For example, "It's nice weather." is
Il fait beau.
Constance Collin is in sunny Paris.
She’s on a long-distance call with Mathilde Martin , her former colleague, who asks about the weather.
Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components.
temps
"weather"
temps
temps
beau
"nice"
beau
beau
Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response.
Ready?
Quel temps fait-il ?
Il fait beau.
Once more with the English translation.
Quel temps fait-il ?
"How’s the weather?"
Il fait beau.
"It's nice weather."
Let's break down the conversation.
Do you remember how Mathilde asks,
"How’s the weather?"
Quel temps fait-il ?
Let’s start with the word temps, meaning "weather." Temps. Temps.
In French, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Temps is masculine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.
Before temps is quel. "What." Quel. Quel.
Quel is masculine and singular to agree with temps.
Together, it’s Quel temps, "What weather." Quel temps.
Next is fait-il, literally, "makes it," but translates as "is it," in this context. fait-il.
First is fait, translating as "is," in this context. Fait. Fait.
Note: fait is from the verb faire, meaning "to do," or "to make," but in this instance, when talking about the weather, it translates as "to be." Faire.
After fait is the subject pronoun, il. Translating as, "It," in this context. Il. Il.
Notice the word order when asking a question: verb, "fait," followed by the subject, "il." “fait-il.”
When this inverted word order occurs in French, there must be a hyphen between the verb and the subject, as in fait-il.
All together, it’s Quel temps fait-il? Literally, "what weather makes it?" but translates as, "How's the weather?"
Quel temps fait-il ?
Pronunciation note: notice the rising intonation indicating a question.
Quel temps fait-il ?
Let’s take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Constance says,
"It's nice weather?"
Il fait beau.
First is Il. "It." Il. Il.
Next is fait. Translating as "Is," in this context. Fait.. Fait.
Last is beau, "beautiful," or "nice," as in nice weather. Beau.. Beau.
All together, it’s Il fait beau. literally, "It does nice weather," but it translates as "It's nice weather."
Il fait beau.
The pattern is
Il fait WEATHER CONDITION.
It is WEATHER CONDITION.
Il fait WEATHER CONDITION.
To use this pattern, simply replace the WEATHER CONDITION placeholder with a suitable adjective.
In this lesson, you'll learn adjectives related to the weather that you can use with this pattern.
Imagine it's “bad weather,” mauvais. Mauvais. Mauvais.
Say
"It's bad weather."
Ready?
Il fait mauvais.
"It's bad weather."
Il fait mauvais.
In French, you can’t use any adjective with the construction, il fait. It’s restricted to a small set of adjectives, such as the adjectives covered in this lesson and some others:
Chaud, “hot,” froid, “cold,” “frais,” cool, lourd, “heavy, sultry,” gris, “gray.”
When talking about the weather, it’s common to use some impersonal verbs in French. Impersonal verbs are verbs without a fully stated subject, and which are conjugated in the third person singular.
For example,"It’s raining" in French is Il pleut.
Il pleut, literally, "It rains," but translates as "It’s raining." Il pleut.
First is il. "It." Il. Il.
Next is pleut, "rains," as in "It rains." pleut.
Pleut is from the verb, pleuvoir, "to rain." Pleuvoir.
Together, Il pleut. Literally, “It rains,” but it translates as, "It’s raining." Il pleut.
Pay attention. You’ll see another example of this pattern shortly.
Again, the key pattern is
Il fait WEATHER CONDITION.
It is WEATHER CONDITION.
Il fait WEATHER CONDITION.
Let's look at some examples.
Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.
Il fait beau.
"It's nice weather."
Il fait beau.
Il fait froid.
"It's cold."
Il fait froid.
Il fait chaud.
"It's hot."
Il fait chaud.
Il pleut.
"It's raining."
Il pleut.
Il neige.
"It's snowing."
Il neige.
Did you notice how the last speaker uses a different pattern?
Il neige.
"It’s snowing."
Literally it means "It snows," but translates as "It’s snowing." Il neige. Il neige.
First is il. "It." Il. Il.
Next is neige, "snows," as in "It snows." neige.
Neige is from the verb, Neiger, "to snow." Neiger.
Together, Il neige. "It’s snowing." Il neige.
Let's review the key words.
Froid. "Cold." Froid. Froid.
Chaud. "Hot." Chaud. Chaud.
Pleuvoir. “To rain.” Pleuvoir. Pleuvoir
Il pleut. "It’s raining." Il pleut. Il pleut.
Neiger. “To snow.” Neiger. Neiger.
Il neige. "It’s snowing." Il neige. Il neige.
Let's review.
Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.
Ready?
Do you remember how to say "nice," as in "nice weather?"
Beau.
Beau.
Do you remember how Constance Collin says,
"It’s nice weather?"
Il fait beau.
Il fait beau.
Do you remember how to say "weather?"
Temps.
Temps.
And how to say "what?"
Quel.
Quel.
Do you remember how Mathilde asks,
"How's the weather?"
Quel temps fait-il ?
Quel temps fait-il ?
Do you remember how to say
"It’s raining."
Il pleut.
Il pleut.
Do you remember how to say "cold?"
Froid.
Froid.
Do you remember how to say "hot?"
Chaud.
Chaud.
Let's practice.
Imagine you’re Constance Collin , and it’s raining, or pleut.
Respond to the question.
Ready?
Quel temps fait-il ?
Il pleut.
Listen again and repeat.
Il pleut.
Il pleut.
Let’s try another.
Imagine you’re Mathilde , and it’s hot, or chaud.
Ready?
Quel temps fait-il ?
Il fait chaud.
Listen again and repeat.
Il fait chaud.
Il fait chaud.
Let’s try one more.
Imagine you’re Hugues Henry , and it’s cold, or froid.
Ready?
Quel temps fait-il ?
Il fait froid.
Listen again and repeat.
Il fait froid.
Il fait froid.
In this lesson, you learned how to talk about weather in French. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of talking about the weather. Let’s review.
Do you remember how to say "hot?"
Chaud.
Chaud.
And how to say "today?"
Aujourd'hui.
Aujourd'hui.
Do you remember how to say,
"It’s hot today."
Il fait chaud aujourd'hui.
Il fait chaud aujourd'hui.
Do you remember how to say,
"Yes, indeed."
Oui, en effet.
Oui, en effet.
Imagine you're Jack Jones , and it's cold outside.
Do you remember how to say "cold" in French?
froid
froid
Now, tell your friend that it's cold.
Il fait froid aujourd'hui.
Oui, en effet.
Listen again and repeat.
Il fait froid aujourd'hui.
Il fait froid aujourd'hui.
On a different occasion you're traveling in Alsace and talking with your friend on the phone. Your friend asks how the weather is, and it's snowy.
Do you remember how to say "snowing" in French?
neige
neige
Respond to your friend and say it's snowing.
Quel temps fait-il ?
Il neige.
Listen again and repeat.
Il neige.
Il neige.
Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About the Weather unit of this course.
Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.
What's next?
Show us what you can do.
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You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.
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