Module 2 of the free French course (CEFR A1, completed), lesson 19 of 30: French weather runs on faire: Il fait beau (it is nice out), il fait chaud (hot). On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 19.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| quel temps fait-il? | what is the weather like? | kel tah(n) feh-TEEL |
| il fait beau | it is nice out | eel feh BOH |
| il fait chaud | it is hot | eel feh SHOH |
| il fait froid | it is cold | eel feh FRWAH |
| il fait gris | it is gray | eel feh GREE |
| le temps | the weather | luh TAH(n) |
| le ciel | the sky | luh SYEL |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
French weather runs on faire: Il fait beau (it is nice out), il fait chaud (hot), il fait froid (cold), il fait gris (gray).
Quel temps fait-il? is the small talk that opens half the conversations in France. Answer for today, truthfully, every morning.
The weather uses faire, not être: il fait froid, never il est froid, which would describe a person rather than the day.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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