Hey guys! Bienvenu, welcome to another episode of French Made Easy. It's episode number 10, numéro 10, and I'm super happy to have you here. Today we'll learn some essential small talk: how to talk about the weather.
I kid you not; it's a favorite topic for French people. I call my parents every week, they're in Paris, and whether it's sunny, raining, snowing, you name it, the weather will come up at some point in the conversation.
Anyway, as always, make sure you download your episode cheat sheet, so you can listen to the lesson and see how the words are written at the same time!
Ready? On y va. Let's go.
So, when you want to find out what the weather is outside, you can either watch the weather forecast (la météo) or take the lazy option, like I do 😬, and ask your partner:
Quel temps fait-il? (What's the weather like?) Répétez après moi, repeat after me: quel temps fait-il?
Now I'm going to give you some possible answers to this.
When it's hot outside, say: il fait chaud. Répétez après moi: il fait chaud.
If it's cold out, you say: il fait froid. Repeat after me: il fait froid.
If it's nice out, you say: il fait beau. Répétez après moi: il fait beau.
If it's bad outside, say: il fait moche. Repeat after me: il fait moche.
A quick note here, "il fait" literally means “it makes” but when used in this context, it translates as "it is."
Parfait. Let's recap these 4 phrases.
Il fait chaud. (It's hot.)
Il fait beau. (It's nice out.)
Il fait froid. (It's cold.)
Il fait moche. (The weather is bad.)
Super.
Now, when it's sunny, you say: il y du soleil. Répétez après moi: il y du soleil.
If it's cloudy, say il y a des nuages. Repeat after me: il y a des nuages.
When it's windy, you say il y a du vent. Répétez après moi: il y a du vent.
If it's foggy, say il y a du brouillard. Repeat after me: il y a du brouillard.
Another. note here, "il y a " literally means “there is” or "there are." But again, in this context, it translates as "it is."
Génial, great. Let's recap these 4 phrases.
Il y a du soleil. (It's sunny.)
Il y a des nuages. (It's cloudy.)
Il y a du vent. (It's windy.)
Il y a du brouillard. (It's foggy.)
Ok, très bien. Very good. Almost there, 2 more phrases:
When it's raining, you say il pleut. Répétez après moi: il pleut.
If it's snowing, say il neige. Repeat after me: il neige.
Great guys. On y est presque, we’re almost there. We're going to repeat all of these sentences together, alright?
Quel temps fait-il? (What's the weather like?)
Parfait, you've done it! Now you'll never be short of a conversation starter.
That's the end of this episode, thank you so much for listening guys. Don’t forget to go to your lesson’s exercises by clicking the link in the episode’s note. Make sure you hit subscribe, so you don't miss out on any new episodes. And if you are enjoying this podcast, I'd really appreciate a quick rating and review!
Merci beaucoup et à bientôt. 👋