About This Lesson
Use Getting Ready for Cloudy Weather to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
Dehors, le ciel a l'air nuageux.
duh-OR, luh SYELL ah LAIR nwah-ZHUH. It looks cloudy outside.
B
Prends un manteau chaud avec toi.
PRAHN uh(n) mahn-TOH shoh ah-VEK twah. Take a warm coat with you.
A
Est-ce que le vent est froid ?
ess-KUH luh VAHN eh FRWAH? Does the wind feel cold?
B
Il fait froid et il y a du vent aujourd'hui.
eel feh FRWAH ay eel yah dew VAHN oh-zhoor-DWEE. It is cold and windy today.
A
J'ai besoin de mon chapeau aussi.
zhay buh-ZWAN duh mohn sha-POH oh-SEE. I need my hat too.
B
Il est près de la porte.
eel eh PREH duh lah PORT. It is by the door.
A
Je le mettrai avant de partir.
zhuh luh meh-TRAY ah-VAHN duh par-TEER. I will put it on before I leave.
B
Alors, tu seras prêt pour la promenade.
ah-LOR, tew suh-RAH PREH poor lah proh-muh-NAHD. Then you will be ready for the walk.Word by Word
Dehors
In “Dehors, le ciel a l'air nuageux”, “Dehors” means “outside” and sets the location of the weather. It is useful at the beginning of a sentence when saying where something is happening.
le
In “le ciel”, “le” means “the” before a known noun. In “Je le mettrai”, the same form is an object pronoun meaning “it” and refers to the hat; useful patterns are “le + noun” and “Je le + verb”.
ciel
In “le ciel a l'air nuageux”, “ciel” means “sky”, the thing described as cloudy. A useful reuse pattern is “le ciel a l'air + adjective” when describing the sky.
a l'air
In “le ciel a l'air nuageux”, the whole expression “a l'air” means “looks” or “seems”. “a” contributes the idea of having, while “l'air” refers to appearance; together they describe how something appears. A useful pattern is “subject + a l'air + adjective”.
nuageux
In “a l'air nuageux”, “nuageux” means “cloudy” and describes the sky’s appearance. It is used after “a l'air” to describe how something looks, as in “le ciel a l'air nuageux”.
Prends
In “Prends un manteau chaud avec toi”, “Prends” tells one person to take something. Its citation form is prendre, and the form here is an instruction; a useful pattern is “Prends + object”.
un
In “un manteau”, “un” means “a” and introduces one non-specific coat. A useful reuse pattern is “un + noun”, as in “un manteau chaud”.
manteau
In “un manteau chaud”, “manteau” means “coat”, the item to take outside. A useful pattern is “un manteau + adjective” when describing a coat.
chaud
In “un manteau chaud”, “chaud” means “warm” and describes the coat. It appears after the noun here, so “manteau chaud” means “warm coat”; this is useful when describing clothing.
avec
In “avec toi”, “avec” means “with” and shows who should accompany or receive something. A useful pattern is “avec + person”, as in “avec toi”.
toi
In “avec toi”, “toi” means “you” after the preposition “avec”. This form is useful in expressions that name the person accompanying someone, such as “avec toi”.
Est-ce que
In “Est-ce que le vent est froid ?”, the whole expression “Est-ce que” turns the statement into a yes-or-no question. “Est-ce” begins the question formula and “que” connects it to the clause “le vent est froid”.
vent
In “le vent est froid”, “vent” means “wind”, which is being described as cold. In “il y a du vent”, it names the wind that is present; useful patterns include “le vent est + adjective” and “il y a du vent”.
est
In “le vent est froid”, “est” means “is” and links the wind with its description. In “Il est près de la porte”, it says that the hat is near the door. Its citation form is être; a useful pattern is “subject + est + description or place”.
froid
In “le vent est froid”, “froid” means “cold” and describes the wind. In “Il fait froid”, it describes the weather; a useful weather pattern is “Il fait froid”.
Il
In “Il fait froid” and “Il est près de la porte”, “Il” is the subject form used for the weather or for the hat. In “il y a du vent”, the same pronoun begins the fixed expression meaning “there is wind”.
fait
In “Il fait froid”, “fait” is part of the standard weather expression meaning “it is cold”, rather than meaning “makes” by itself. Its citation form is faire; a useful pattern is “Il fait + weather description”.
et
In “Il fait froid et il y a du vent aujourd'hui”, “et” means “and” and joins two weather facts. A useful reuse pattern is “fact A et fact B”.
y
In “il y a du vent”, “y” contributes the meaning “there”. Together with “a”, it forms the expression “there is”; a useful pattern is “il y a + noun” when saying that something is present.
a
In “le ciel a l'air nuageux”, “a” helps form the expression “looks” with “l'air”. In “il y a du vent”, it combines with “y” to form “there is”. Its citation form is avoir.
du
In “du vent”, “du” marks an unspecified amount or presence of wind. It belongs with “vent” in the weather expression “il y a du vent”; a useful pattern is “il y a du + noun” when referring to an unmeasured substance or amount.
aujourd'hui
In “Il fait froid et il y a du vent aujourd'hui”, “aujourd'hui” means “today” and places the weather in the current day. It is useful at the end of a sentence to specify when something is true.
J'ai
In “J'ai besoin de mon chapeau”, “J'ai” means “I have” and begins the expression for needing something. Its citation form is avoir; a useful pattern is “J'ai besoin de + thing” when stating a need.
besoin
In “J'ai besoin de mon chapeau”, “besoin” names the need, and the whole expression means “I need my hat”. A useful reuse pattern is “J'ai besoin de + noun” or “J'ai besoin de + action”.
de
In “besoin de mon chapeau”, “de” connects the need to the thing needed. In “avant de partir”, it introduces the action that happens before another action; useful patterns are “besoin de + thing” and “avant de + infinitive”.
mon
In “mon chapeau”, “mon” means “my” and identifies the hat as belonging to the speaker. It comes before the noun in the useful pattern “mon + noun”.
chapeau
In “mon chapeau”, “chapeau” means “hat”, the item the speaker needs and will put on. A useful pattern is “mon chapeau” when referring to the speaker’s hat.
aussi
In “J'ai besoin de mon chapeau aussi”, “aussi” means “too” and adds the hat to something already discussed. It is useful at the end of a sentence when adding another needed item or fact.
près
In “près de la porte”, “près” means “near” or “close to” and describes the hat’s location. A useful pattern is “près de + place or thing”.
la
In “la porte” and “la promenade”, “la” means “the” before a known noun. A useful reuse pattern is “la + noun” when referring to a specific thing or activity.
porte
In “près de la porte”, “porte” means “door” and identifies the place where the hat is. A useful location pattern is “près de la porte”.
Je
In “Je le mettrai”, “Je” means “I” and marks the speaker as the subject of the action. A useful pattern is “Je + verb” when describing what the speaker will do.
mettrai
In “Je le mettrai”, “mettrai” expresses “will put on”, with “le” referring to the hat. Its citation form is mettre; the useful pattern here is “Je le mettrai” when saying that the speaker will put an item on.
avant
In “avant de partir”, “avant” means “before” and places one action earlier than another. A useful pattern is “avant de + infinitive”, as in “avant de partir”.
partir
In “avant de partir”, “partir” means “to leave” and names the action that has not happened yet. It is used after “avant de” in the pattern “avant de + infinitive”.
Alors
In “Alors, tu seras prêt pour la promenade”, “Alors” means “then” and introduces the result of getting dressed properly. It is useful at the beginning of a sentence when drawing a conclusion from what was just said.
tu
In “tu seras prêt”, “tu” means “you” when addressing one person in the familiar form. It is the subject in the useful pattern “tu + verb”, as in “tu seras”.
seras
In “tu seras prêt”, “seras” means “will be” and describes the person’s future state of being ready. Its citation form is être; a useful pattern is “tu seras + adjective”.
prêt
In “tu seras prêt”, “prêt” means “ready” for the walk. A useful pattern is “être prêt pour + activity”, as in “prêt pour la promenade”.
pour
In “prêt pour la promenade”, “pour” means “for” and identifies the activity the person is ready to do. A useful pattern is “être prêt pour + activity”.
promenade
In “la promenade”, “promenade” means “walk” or “stroll”, the activity the speakers are preparing for. It is useful after “pour” when talking about being ready for a walk.
Grammar Points
avoir l'air + adjectif
Le ciel a l'air nuageux.
luh SYELL ah LAIR nwah-ZHUH.The sky looks cloudy.
French uses avoir l'air followed by an adjective to mean “to look” or “to seem.”
avant de + infinitif
Avant de partir, je mettrai mon manteau.
ah-VAHN duh par-TEER, zhuh meh-TRAY mohn mahn-TOH.Before leaving, I will put on my coat.
Use avant de before an infinitive when the subject is the same in both actions.
French Vocabulary
avec
prep
ah-VEK
with
avec toi
avoir l'air
phrase
ah-VWAHR LAIR
to look; to seem
a l'air
le ciel a l'air nuageux
chaud
adj
SHOH
warm
un manteau chaud
ciel
noun
SYELL
sky
le ciel
dehors
adv
duh-OR
outside
Dehors, le ciel a l'air nuageux.
faire
verb
FAIR
to do; to make
fait
Il fait froid.
froid
adj
FRWAH
cold
Il fait froid.
manteau
noun
mahn-TOH
coat
un manteau chaud
nuageux
adj
nwah-ZHUH
cloudy
le ciel a l'air nuageux
prendre
verb
PRAHNDR
to take
Prends
Prends un manteau chaud avec toi.
toi
pron
TWAH
you
avec toi
vent
noun
VAHN
wind
le vent
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
It looks cloudy outside.
Show Answer
Dehors, le ciel a l'air nuageux.Take a warm coat with you.
Show Answer
Prends un manteau chaud avec toi.I need my hat too.
Show Answer
J'ai besoin de mon chapeau aussi.Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
warm
Show Answer
chaudoutside
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dehorssky
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cielcoat