French · Elementary (A2) · Chapter 6 of 12
Weather and seasons
La météo et les saisons
Talk about the weather and the seasons, understand a forecast and say what will happen with the futur simple.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Ask and say what the weather is like
- Name the seasons and give temperatures
- Say what will happen with the futur simple
Listen
Margaux lives in Paris. She phones her father Gérard in Annecy, in the Alps, before she visits him for the weekend. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Margaux
Allô, papa ? C'est Margaux. Quel temps il fait à Annecy ?
Hello, Dad? It's Margaux. What's the weather like in Annecy?
Gérard
Il fait froid, mais il fait beau. Il y a du soleil. Et à Paris ?
It's cold, but it's nice. It's sunny. And in Paris?
Margaux
Ici, il pleut depuis lundi. Tu as vu la météo pour le week-end ?
Here it's been raining since Monday. Have you seen the forecast for the weekend?
Gérard
Oui. Samedi, il fera beau, mais il fera froid : moins deux degrés le matin.
Yes. On Saturday it'll be nice, but it'll be cold: minus two in the morning.
Margaux
Et dimanche ?
And on Sunday?
Gérard
Dimanche, il neigera en montagne. On pourra faire du ski.
On Sunday it'll snow in the mountains. We'll be able to go skiing.
Margaux
Super. Alors, je prendrai le train vendredi soir.
Great. So I'll take the train on Friday evening.
Gérard
Tu arriveras à quelle heure ?
What time will you arrive?
Margaux
À vingt-deux heures. Tu viendras à la gare ?
At ten pm. Will you come to the station?
Gérard
Bien sûr. Mais tu auras besoin d'un manteau chaud : il fait plus froid qu'à Paris.
Of course. But you'll need a warm coat: it's colder than in Paris.
Margaux
D'accord. À vendredi, papa.
OK. See you on Friday, Dad.
Understand
What's the weather like?
Ask (literally “what weather does it make?”). Most answers use + adjective, or il y a du / de la / des… + noun. Rain and snow have their own verbs: (it's raining), (it's snowing). For temperatures, say , and below zero, (minus two).
The seasons are (spring), (summer), (autumn) and (winter). “In” is : , , . The exception is .
| French | English |
|---|---|
| It's nice, the weather's good. | |
| The weather's bad. | |
| It's hot, it's warm. | |
| It's cold. | |
| It's sunny. | |
| It's windy. | |
| It's cloudy. | |
| It's raining. | |
| It's snowing. |
The futur simple: what will happen
The says what will happen: (it will be nice). For most verbs, take the infinitive and add the endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. Verbs ending in -re drop the final e: , .
In conversation, the near future with (A1) is more common for plans: The futur simple is typical of weather forecasts, predictions and promises, but it's also correct for plans.
| Subject | (to arrive) | (to take) |
|---|---|---|
| / / | ||
| / |
Irregular future stems
Some common verbs have an irregular stem, but the endings are always the same. Weather verbs only have an form: (it will rain), (it will snow).
| Infinitive | Future | English |
|---|---|---|
| I will be | ||
| I will have | ||
| I will do | ||
| I will go | ||
| I will come | ||
| I will be able to | ||
| it will rain |
- Demain, il fera chaud.Tomorrow it will be hot.
- Nous serons à Annecy samedi.We'll be in Annecy on Saturday.
More in the grammar: The near future: aller + infinitive · Comparing: plus, moins, aussi, meilleur · The futur simple: will
New words
- allô ?hello? (on the phone)
- papadad
- quel temps il fait ?what's the weather like?
- il fait beauit's nice, the weather's good
- le soleilsun
- la météoweather forecast
- le degrédegree
- il neigeit's snowing · future:
- en montagnein the mountains
- faire du skito go skiing
- avoir besoin deto need
- le manteaucoat
- chaud / chaudewarm, hot
- d'accordOK, all right
Practise
1.It's 35 degrees and you're in the sun. What do you say?
2.Complete with the future of : “It will be nice on Saturday.”
It will be nice on Saturday.
3.Complete with the future of .
I'll take the train on Friday evening.
4.How do you say “in summer”?
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.On Sunday it'll snow in the mountains.
6.Match the French with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Quel temps il fait ?
What's the weather like?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.