Talking about the weather in French - il fait + [adjectif]

Take the fastest path to fluent French

In French, when you talk about the weather, you use a specific expression with the verb "faire".

How to talk about the weather in French

Look at these sentences:

Il fait beau.The weather is nice.

Il fait mauvais.The weather is bad

Il fait froid.It is cold (outside)

Il fait chaud.It is hot (outside)

Il fait bon.The weather is nice. 

Notice that to talk about the weather in French, you will use the fixed expression

Il fait + [adjective]

(In this case, it literally means "it makes/does...")

However,
You would never say Le temps fait bon.

ATTENTION:
You cannot say C'est chaud about the weather, but you can about something you touch or taste (like a cup of tea).

Nuance between il fait beau and il fait bon:

Il fait beau expresses that the feeling that the weather looks (or seems) nice (blue sky, sunny...)
whereas Il fait bon is more about how the weather is / feels (the temperature), meaning not too hot nor too cold: "It is warm".

Case of il fait du soleil / il fait du vent or il fait soleil:

This seems to be presented as idiomatic in a lot of French courses, and to be perfectly honest, some French people use it. However, it is not good French and still sounds clunky and child-like to many French ears (including mine).

Il fait should always be followed by an adjective, and il y a by a noun.

See also Talking about the weather in French - il y a + [nom]

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Il fait bon.The weather is nice. 
Il fait beau.The weather is nice.
Il fait mauvais.The weather is bad
Il fait froid.It is cold (outside)
Il fait chaud.It is hot (outside)
Clever stuff happening!