Le temps et les loisirs (Weather and free time)
Primary 5 · French
Le temps et les loisirs (Weather and free time)
Lesson 1 of 3
12 min
Let's begin
It is early morning in Musanze. Rain is drumming on the iron roof, and Uwase runs to school holding a banana leaf over her head. By break time the sky is blue and the ground is already dry.
In one single morning the weather changed twice. Today you will learn to talk about all of it — in French.
Uwase looks out of her window. The sun is shining and the air is warm. In French she says:
Il fait beau. (say: eel FAY boh) — The weather is fine.
Gatete looks out of his window in Musanze. Rain is falling hard. He says:
Il pleut. (say: eel PLUH) — It is raining.
Read those two again slowly. Uwase needed two little words, il fait, in front of her weather word. Gatete used no il fait at all. That is not a mistake — it is the rule, and here it is.
Pattern 1 — il fait + a describing word. These words describe how the whole day feels.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Il fait beau. | The weather is fine. |
| Il fait chaud. | It is hot. |
| Il fait froid. | It is cold. |
| Il fait frais. | It is cool. |
| Il fait mauvais. | The weather is bad. |
Pattern 2 — il fait du (or il y a du) + a thing. Wind, sun, fog and clouds are things you can point at — nouns. A noun needs a little word in front of it: du, de la or des.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Il fait du vent. | It is windy. |
| Il fait du soleil. | It is sunny. |
| Il fait du brouillard. | It is foggy. |
| Il y a des nuages. | It is cloudy (there are clouds). |
Pattern 3 — weather verbs that work alone. Some weather is a verb all by itself. It needs nothing at all in front.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Il pleut. | It is raining. |
| Il neige. | It is snowing (in cold countries — never here!). |
Never glue two patterns together. Il fait pleut is not French, and no one will understand it.
Task: say "It is windy in Kigali today" in French.
Step 1 — Which pattern? Ask yourself: is wind a describing word, or a thing? Wind pushes the flag and lifts the dust — it is a thing, a noun: le vent. So this is Pattern 2.
Step 2 — Build the middle. Pattern 2 is il fait du + the thing. So: il fait du vent.
Step 3 — Add the extras. "in Kigali" = à Kigali. "today" = aujourd'hui.
Answer: Il fait du vent à Kigali aujourd'hui.
Now walk the same three steps for "It is cold." Cold (froid) describes how the day feels, so it is Pattern 1, and Pattern 1 needs no du: Il fait froid. Two seconds, and you are done.
French books from Europe talk about four seasons: le printemps (spring), l'été (summer), l'automne (autumn) and l'hiver (winter).
Here in Rwanda we mostly live with two — and French has words for them too.
la saison des pluies — the rainy season.
Pendant la saison des pluies, il pleut souvent. (souvent = often)
la saison sèche — the dry season.
Pendant la saison sèche, il fait chaud et il fait du soleil.
And here is the one question that starts every weather conversation:
Quel temps fait-il ? (say: kel TAHN fay-TEEL) — What is the weather like?
Notice fait hiding inside the question. The question uses faire, and so does your answer: Quel temps fait-il ? — Il fait beau !
Warning
A trap to dodge. Never say Il est chaud about the weather. That sentence means an object is hot — like a pot of beans straight off the fire. The sky always uses faire: Il fait chaud.
And when you feel hot, French changes verb again: J'ai chaud ! (I am hot.) Same word chaud, three different verbs, three different jobs.
Tip
How to remember it
If the weather describes the day (beau, chaud, froid, frais) or is a thing floating in the air (du vent, du soleil, du brouillard), start with IL FAIT.
If the weather falls out of the sky (il pleut, il neige), the verb does the whole job alone — put nothing in front of it.
Say each sentence out loud first, then tap Show answer to check.
Say in French: "It is cold in Musanze."
Answer: Il fait froid à Musanze. — Froid describes the day, so it is Pattern 1: no du.
Say in French: "It is raining."
Answer: Il pleut. — Two words, and that is the whole sentence. Adding il fait would break it.
Say in French: "It is sunny."
Answer: Il fait du soleil. — The sun (le soleil) is a thing, so Pattern 2. You may also say Il y a du soleil. Both are correct.
Mugisha wrote: Il est froid aujourd'hui. Find his mistake and fix it.
Answer: Il fait froid aujourd'hui. — The weather uses fait, never est.
A friend asks you Quel temps fait-il ? It is hot, and the sky is full of clouds. Answer in French.
Answer: Il fait chaud et il y a des nuages. — et means "and". Chaud is Pattern 1, nuages is Pattern 2, and you just used both in one breath.
What you learned today
Quick check
The day is cold. How do you say It is cold?
