Le temps et les loisirs (Weather and free time)
Primary 5 · French
Le temps et les loisirs (Weather and free time)
Lesson 3 of 3
15 min
Let's begin
Gatete travels to Rubavu with his uncle. At a small shop by the water he buys a carte postale — a postcard with a photograph of Lake Kivu on the front. On the back there are only six short lines.
Six lines, and his friend in Kigali must be able to picture the whole holiday from them. So what do you write? Here is exactly what.
Rubavu, le 12 août
Chère Mutesi,
Salut ! Je suis à Rubavu, au bord du lac Kivu. Il fait chaud et il y a du soleil. Le matin, je fais de la natation avec mon cousin. L'après-midi, je joue au football sur la plage. J'aime beaucoup les vacances ici !
À bientôt !
Ton ami Gatete
And here is the very same card in English:
Rubavu, 12 August
Dear Mutesi,
Hi! I am in Rubavu, on the shore of Lake Kivu. It is hot and it is sunny. In the morning, I go swimming with my cousin. In the afternoon, I play football on the beach. I really like the holidays here!
See you soon!
Your friend Gatete
Read the French one more time. Do you recognise Il fait chaud from Lesson 1? And je fais de la natation and je joue au football from Lesson 2? A postcard is nothing new — it is those two lessons, tied together with a hello at the top and a goodbye at the bottom.
Part 1 — where you are, and when. Write the place, then le + the day + the month.
Rubavu, le 12 août · Kigali, le 3 mars
French months never take a capital letter: janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre.
Part 2 — the greeting. It must match the friend you are writing to.
| You are writing to… | You write… |
|---|---|
| a boy (Mugisha) | Cher Mugisha, |
| a girl (Mutesi) | Chère Mutesi, |
| anyone, more casually | Salut Mutesi ! / Bonjour Mugisha ! |
Chère takes an extra e for a girl — a describing word agreeing with her, just like in your grammar lessons.
Part 3 — the message. Only three sentences are needed. You will see them in a moment.
Part 4 — the ending, then your name.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| À bientôt ! | See you soon! |
| Amitiés | Best wishes (from a friend) |
| Au revoir ! | Goodbye! |
| Ton ami Gatete | Your friend Gatete (a boy signing) |
| Ton amie Keza | Your friend Keza (a girl signing) |
Careful here: ton ami or ton amie follows your own gender — the person holding the pen, not the person receiving the card.
Where am I? — Je suis à Kigali. / Je suis chez ma grand-mère. (chez ma grand-mère = at my grandmother's)
What is the weather? — Il fait beau. / Il pleut. / Il fait du vent.
What am I doing? — Je joue au football. / Je fais du vélo. / J'aime chanter.
Everything stays in the present tense — the "right now" tense. And you already know every verb you need:
| Verb | Your form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| être (to be) | je suis | Je suis à Rubavu. |
| faire (to do) | je fais / il fait | Je fais du vélo. Il fait chaud. |
| jouer (to play) | je joue | Je joue aux cartes. |
| aimer (to like) | j'aime | J'aime la plage. |
Look closely at faire. Je fais and il fait are the same verb, only changing shape for a different person. The weather sentence you learned in Lesson 1 was faire all along — you just did not know it yet.
Keza has scribbled four notes on a scrap of paper: in Kigali · raining · she reads and she sings · the card goes to Mugisha. Watch her turn them into French.
Step 1 — The greeting. Mugisha is a boy, so no extra e: Cher Mugisha,
Step 2 — Where. être gives je suis, and "in Kigali" is à Kigali: Je suis à Kigali.
Step 3 — The weather. Rain falls from the sky, so the verb works alone — no il fait: Il pleut aujourd'hui.
Step 4 — The activities. Reading has no ball and no drum, so faire de + la lecture → Je fais de la lecture. And after aimer, the verb chanter follows with nothing in between → J'aime chanter.
Step 5 — The ending. Keza is a girl, so she signs with the extra e: Ton amie Keza.
Here is her finished card:
Kigali, le 5 avril
Cher Mugisha,
Salut ! Je suis à Kigali chez ma tante. Il pleut aujourd'hui. Je fais de la lecture et j'aime chanter avec ma cousine. Et toi, quel temps fait-il ?
À bientôt !
Ton amie Keza
Did you spot her last little trick? Et toi, quel temps fait-il ? — And you, what is the weather like? Ending with a question makes your friend want to write straight back to you.
Tip
W–W–W and your card is written. Before you pick up the pen, answer three questions in your head:
Three sentences, a Cher or Chère on top, an À bientôt ! at the bottom — that is a complete French postcard.
Write each answer in your book first, then check it here.
Begin a postcard to Uwase, a girl.
Answer: Chère Uwase, — a girl gets the extra e.
Begin a postcard to Byiringiro, a boy.
Answer: Cher Byiringiro, — no extra e for a boy.
Ishimwe (a boy) has finished his card. Write his last two lines.
Answer: À bientôt ! / Ton ami Ishimwe — Ishimwe is the one writing, so ami matches him.
In Musanze it is cold and the sky is full of clouds. Write the weather sentence.
Answer: Il fait froid et il y a des nuages. — Froid describes the day (il fait), the clouds are things (il y a des).
The big one. Umutoni (a girl) is at Nyungwe with her family. It is raining a lot. She reads and she plays cards. She is writing to Gatete (a boy) on 20 June. Write her whole postcard.
Answer:
Nyungwe, le 20 juin
Cher Gatete,
Salut ! Je suis à Nyungwe avec ma famille. Il pleut beaucoup. Je fais de la lecture et je joue aux cartes. J'aime la forêt !
À bientôt !
Ton amie Umutoni
Check your card piece by piece: Cher for a boy, il pleut alone, faire de la lecture, jouer aux cartes, and amie because Umutoni is a girl. If all five are right, you can write a postcard in French.
What you learned today
Quick check
You are writing a postcard to Mugisha, a boy. How do you begin?
