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LearnModule 2 · Lesson 20 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, completedUnit 4 · The date and the weather

Il pleut, il neige — more weather

Module 2 of the free French course (CEFR A1, completed), lesson 20 of 30: Rain and snow get their own verbs: il pleut (it is raining), il neige (it is snowing). On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 20.

The words

FrenchEnglishSay it
il pleutit is rainingeel PLUH
il neigeit is snowingeel NEHZH
il y a du ventit is windyeel ee ah dew VAH(n)
il y a du soleilit is sunnyeel ee ah dew soh-LAY
la pluiethe rainlah PLWEE
la neigethe snowlah NEHZH
le ventthe windluh VAH(n)
le nuagethe cloudluh new-AHZH

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.

Hear the words

Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.

La règle · The rule

Rain and snow get their own verbs: il pleut (it is raining), il neige (it is snowing). Wind and sun use il y a: il y a du vent, il y a du soleil.

Et aussi · And also

Weather plus season plus month is a real paragraph: En hiver, il neige. En été, il fait chaud et il y a du soleil.

Attention · Watch out

Rain and snow have verbs (il pleut, il neige); wind and sun use il y a: il y a du vent, il y a du soleil. Do not swap the two shapes.

Do it now — on paper

  1. Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il pleut.
  2. Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
  3. Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 20 in Module 2 are the written half of this page.

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.

Keep these words

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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