by Nicole Selley

Created on: November 08, 2011   Last Updated: November 09, 2011

The French – just like any other nationality – enjoy talking about the weather. It’s an easy topic allowing for small talk and therefore it is a useful area to grow your vocabulary in. Knowing how to talk about the weather lets you participate in simple small talks and chats and feel part of the French people surrounding you on holiday.

To ask “How is the weather?” in French is “Quel temps fait-il?” or “il fait quel temps?” which directly translated means “What weather is it doing?” Both terms are correct forms of asking about the weather.

The response also uses the word “faire” (to make / to do). This will feel strange to you as in the English language you use the word “to be” which in French would be “être”, e.g. “it is hot”. That would sound very strange in French, however, and it therefore is important that you remember the use of "faire".

You start your response with “Il fait” followed by the description of the weather. Below are some of the keywords you’ll need to describe the weather.

hot                         chaud
cold                        froid
cool                        frais
nice                        beau
bad                        mauvais
humide                   humide
cloudy                     nuageux
stormy                    orageux

Directly translated, this means “it does hot” (for chaud) and sounds strange in our mind, but remember that a language even can’t and shouldn’t be directly translated.

To express that it is windy, sunny or foggy, you will need to add “du”, e.g. il fait du vent which basically means “of the wind, of the sun, of the fog” rather than “all

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