La Météo — talking about the weather | Vocabulary
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How to talk about the weather in French — il fait beau, il pleut and every phrase you need — with audio. Talking about the weather. This French talking weather vocabulary list gives you 18 essential words — from Il fait beau. (The weather’s nice.) to l’hiver — en hiver (winter — in winter) — each with audio and its English translation. Use it to build the French words you need to talk about talking weather, then test yourself with the games below.
La Météo
Talking about the weather
Il fait…
Les phénomènes
Les saisons
🎬 The 20-second version
Five phrases with « La Météo » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →
📘 The three weather patterns
- Il fait + adjective: il fait beau / froid / chaud — the all-purpose pattern.
- Il y a + noun: il y a du vent / du soleil / des nuages.
- Weather verbs: il pleut (pleuvoir), il neige (neiger), il gèle (geler) — always with il.
- Seasons: au printemps but en été / automne / hiver.
- Asking: Quel temps fait-il ? (What’s the weather like?)
🇬🇧 Il fait: the little engine of French weather talk
French weather runs on one impersonal machine: il fait + adjective. Il fait beau (it’s nice), il fait chaud (hot), il fait froid (cold), il fait gris, il fait doux (mild), il fait lourd (muggy) — and the question that opens a million small-talk exchanges: quel temps fait-il ? (what’s the weather like?). The faire is faire, the verb from our conjugation charts, in its impersonal third person — so past and future come free: il a fait beau hier, il fera chaud demain. Two weather verbs stand outside the system: il pleut (it’s raining — pleuvoir) and il neige (snowing — neiger), with il y a covering phenomena: il y a du vent, du soleil, du brouillard (fog), des nuages (clouds).
Vocabulary notes the textbooks skim: le temps means both weather and time (context decides — quel temps fait-il vs je n’ai pas le temps), while la météo is the forecast itself (« t’as vu la météo ? » — seen the forecast?). Temperature goes in degrés: il fait 30 degrés, il fait moins cinq (minus five). The idioms are forecast-proof: il pleut des cordes (raining ropes — pouring), un temps de chien (dog’s weather — foul), en plein cagnard (in blazing sun, southern French). Weather small talk is France’s social lubricant exactly as it is everywhere — master il fait + five adjectives and quel temps fait-il, and you have an opener for every boulangerie queue in the country.
FAQ
How do you say “What’s the weather like?” in French?
« Quel temps fait-il ? » — or casually « il fait quel temps ? ». Answers run on il fait + adjective: il fait beau, il fait froid, il fait 25 degrés.
What’s the difference between « le temps » and « la météo »?
Le temps is the weather itself (and also “time”); la météo is the forecast/report. « La météo dit qu’il va pleuvoir » — the forecast says rain.
What does « il pleut des cordes » mean?
“It’s pouring” — literally raining ropes, the French cousin of raining cats and dogs. Un temps de chien (dog’s weather) covers general meteorological misery.
🔊 Useful phrases
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
It’s windy → Il y a ___ vent. (il y a + du)
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du
in spring → ___ printemps (season preposition)
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au
It’s raining → Il ___. (weather verb)
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pleut
🎬 Video lesson
The Weather In French: Vocabulary & Phrases🎮 Practise this with games
🎯 More practice — vocabulary recall — both directions
How do you say « The weather’s nice. »? (recall)
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Il fait beau.
What does « Il fait chaud. » mean? (recall)
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It’s hot.
How do you say « It’s 25 degrees. »? (recall)
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Il fait 25 degrés.
What does « Il pleut. » mean? (recall)
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It’s raining.
How do you say « It’s windy. »? (recall)
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Il y a du vent.
What does « Il y a des nuages. » mean? (recall)
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It’s cloudy.
How do you say « There’s a storm. »? (recall)
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Il y a un orage.
What does « l’été — en été » mean? (recall)
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summer — in summer
Go further: this chart is one small piece — get the full picture in our guide French for absolute beginners — your first 40 words.
Weather in French — FAQ
How do you say common talking weather words in French?
For example: The weather’s nice. is « Il fait beau. », The weather’s bad. is « Il fait mauvais. », It’s hot. is « Il fait chaud. ». The full list above has 18 French talking weather words, each with audio so you can hear the pronunciation.
What are the most useful French talking weather words to learn first?
Start with the basics: Il fait beau. (The weather’s nice.), Il fait mauvais. (The weather’s bad.), Il fait chaud. (It’s hot.), Il fait froid. (It’s cold.), Il fait 25 degrés. (It’s 25 degrees.), Il fait gris. (It’s grey/overcast.). Master these core French words before moving on to the rest of the list.
How can I memorise French talking weather vocabulary?
Learn the words in small themed groups, say each one out loud with the audio, and use it in a short sentence about your own life. Spaced repetition is what makes new vocabulary stick — see our guide to learning French vocabulary that sticks.
🎮 Practise this lesson
Games built from this exact page — turn what you just read into play:
🧩 Sentence Builder rebuild these sentences
🃏 Memory Match pair FR ↔ EN
🎧 Listening Game which sentence do you hear?
🎬 The whole word list, level by level
La météo from your first words to native speed — the terms you actually need at each level. Practise it with the free games →