French weather words: how to talk about the weather

Q: How do you ask about the weather in French?

Say Quel temps fait-il ? ("What's the weather like?"). The answer usually begins with il fait: il fait beau ("it's nice"), il fait froid ("it's cold"), il fait du soleil ("it's sunny").

Q: How do you say "it's raining" and "it's snowing" in French?

Use the weather verbs: il pleut ("it's raining") and il neige ("it's snowing"). They only exist in the impersonal il form. The matching nouns are la pluie (rain) and la neige (snow).

Q: Why is it "il fait froid" and not "il est froid"?

French describes weather with the verb faire, not être. Il fait froid means "it's cold" (weather), while il est froid / c'est froid describes a specific thing that is cold, like food or a drink.

Q: How do you say the seasons in French?

le printemps (spring), l'été (summer), l'automne (autumn), l'hiver (winter). To say "in" a season, use en for summer, autumn and winter (en été) but au for spring (au printemps).

To talk about the weather in French, you need a handful of nouns and adjectives — le temps (weather), le soleil (sun), la pluie (rain), la neige (snow), le vent (wind), chaud (hot), froid (cold) — and one key verb pattern. French describes most weather with il fait + a word: il fait beau (“it’s nice”), il fait froid (“it’s cold”). For rain and snow there are two special verbs: il pleut (“it’s raining”) and il neige (“it’s snowing”).

Word	Transcription	Translation	Example
temps	/tɑ̃/	weather	Le temps est beau et très chaud.The weather is nice and very warm.
soleil	/sɔlɛj/	sun	Le soleil est brillant et chaud aujourd'hui.The sun is bright and warm today.
pluie	/plɥi/	rain	La pluie est forte et bruyante.The rain is heavy and loud.
neige	/nɛʒ/	snow	La neige est blanche et douce.The snow is white and soft.
vent	/vɑ̃/	wind	Le vent est fort et très froid.The wind is strong and very cold.
nuageux	/nɥaʒø/	cloudy	Aujourd'hui, le temps est nuageux, sans soleil.It is cloudy today with no sun.
chaud	/ʃo/	hot	Aujourd'hui, il fait chaud, environ trente degrés.It is hot today, around thirty degrees.
froid	/fʁwa/	cold	Ma main est froide sans gant.My hand is cold without a glove.
pleuvoir	/pløvwaʁ/	rain	Aujourd'hui, il pleut tout le matin.It rains today all morning long.
neiger	/neʒe/	snow	En hiver, il neige chaque année.It snows in winter every year.

Quel temps fait-il? The “il fait” pattern

To ask “what’s the weather like?” you say Quel temps fait-il ? The answer almost always starts with il fait, using the impersonal il (a dummy “it”, like in English “it’s raining”). You add an adjective or, for sun and wind, du + a noun.

French	English
Il fait beau.	It’s nice / fine.
Il fait mauvais.	The weather’s bad.
Il fait chaud.	It’s hot.
Il fait froid.	It’s cold.
Il fait du soleil.	It’s sunny.
Il fait du vent.	It’s windy.

Quel temps fait-il aujourd’hui ? — Il fait froid et il y a du vent.
What’s the weather like today? — It’s cold and windy.

Il pleut and il neige: weather verbs

Rain and snow have their own verbs, and they only exist in the impersonal il form. You do not say il fait pluie — you use the verb.

Il pleut depuis ce matin. Demain, il va neiger.
It’s been raining since this morning. Tomorrow it’s going to snow.

So la pluie and la neige are the nouns, while pleuvoir (il pleut) and neiger (il neige) are the verbs.

The seasons: les saisons

The four seasons are le printemps (spring), l'été (summer), l'automne (autumn) and l'hiver (winter). To say “in” a season, French uses en for three of them but au for spring.

Season	“in” the season
le printemps	au printemps
l’été	en été
l’automne	en automne
l’hiver	en hiver

En hiver il neige, et au printemps il fait beau.
In winter it snows, and in spring the weather is nice.

Common mistakes

Using être instead of faire for weather

Weather uses faire, not être. Il est froid describes a thing (“it is cold”); the weather is il fait froid.

~~Il est chaud aujourd’hui.~~ → Il fait chaud aujourd’hui.
It’s hot today.

Saying “il fait pluie”

Rain and snow are verbs here, not il fait + noun.

~~Il fait pluie.~~ → Il pleut.
It’s raining.

Saying “en printemps”

Spring is the odd one out: it takes au, not en.

~~en printemps~~ → au printemps
in spring

Notice that le temps means both “weather” and “time”, so context does the work — just like building any themed word set, the trick is meeting the words in real sentences. After the weather, a natural next step is everyday French food vocabulary for café and daily life. In Fluera you learn each word, hear it, and use it inside short sentences like il fait froid so the phrases come out ready-made. Try it when you practice French.

Practice

Question 1 of 10

temps/tɑ̃/

Frequently asked questions

How do you ask about the weather in French?

Say Quel temps fait-il ? ("What's the weather like?"). The answer usually begins with il fait: il fait beau ("it's nice"), il fait froid ("it's cold"), il fait du soleil ("it's sunny").

How do you say "it's raining" and "it's snowing" in French?

Use the weather verbs: il pleut ("it's raining") and il neige ("it's snowing"). They only exist in the impersonal il form. The matching nouns are la pluie (rain) and la neige (snow).

Why is it "il fait froid" and not "il est froid"?

French describes weather with the verb faire, not être. Il fait froid means "it's cold" (weather), while il est froid / c'est froid describes a specific thing that is cold, like food or a drink.

How do you say the seasons in French?

le printemps (spring), l'été (summer), l'automne (autumn), l'hiver (winter). To say "in" a season, use en for summer, autumn and winter (en été) but au for spring (au printemps).