Goals
What you'll be able to do- ☀️ Understand a weather forecast
- 🌤️ Talk about what the weather will be
- 📚 Conjugate the futur simple (simple future tense)
- ⚠️ Know the main irregular verbs in the future
- 🎯 Express certainty or probability
- 🎵 Pronounce consonant clusters
Discover
DialogueDialogue · Tomorrow's weather
It's the weather forecast on the radio. The presenter, Florence Arnaud, gives tomorrow's forecast.
Could you turn on the radio please? I want to know what the weather will be tomorrow. I'm going to Brittany.
And now, tomorrow's forecast. Florence Arnaud!
Hello! Do you live in Strasbourg or Lille? Well, tomorrow — get your umbrellas out! It will indeed rain all day in the east and the north of France.
In the west and the centre of the country, you'll have sun in the morning but watch out in the afternoon: clouds will roll into Brittany and we'll perhaps get a bit of rain.
In the south, from the Basque Country to Marseille, it'll be lovely! The sun will surely shine all day long. As for temperatures: 15°C in Lille, 17 in Paris, 20 in Brest and La Rochelle, 18 in Saint-Étienne, and 23 in Marseille. Have a great day!
There you go! Oh no! But don't worry! You'll see, I'm sure it won't rain.
You really think the weather'll be nice? Yeah, I'm sure of it…
Lille
north15°Paris
centre17°Brest
Brittany20°La Rochelle
Atlantic coast20°Saint-Étienne
centre-east18°Marseille
south23°💡 Notes
- Beau fixe = "set fair" — fixe means "stable, unchanging". The weather stays nice!
- "Sortez vos parapluies !" "Get your umbrellas out!" — a stock phrase TV/radio weather presenters use.
- Être sûr / certain de + noun / inf. = "to be sure / certain of". "Je suis certain qu'il fera beau."
- The French climate: 4 zones — oceanic (west), continental (east), Mediterranean (south), mountain (Alps/Pyrenees).
- Temperature in °C: France uses Celsius. 0° = freezing, 15° = cool, 20-25° = warm, 30°+ = hot. Quick conversion: °F ≈ °C × 2 + 30.
Vocabulary
Words to remember| French | Type | English |
|---|---|---|
| allumer | v. | to turn on (a light, a device) |
| beau / belle | adj. | beautiful; (of weather) nice |
| Brest | n.pr. | Brest (city in western France) |
| la Bretagne | n.f. | Brittany |
| briller | v. | to shine |
| certainement | adv. | certainly, surely |
| certain / certaine | adj. | certain, sure |
| une chance | n.f. | luck; chance |
| croire | v. | to believe, to think |
| un degré | n.m. | degree |
| l'est | n.m. | (the) east |
| fixe | adj. | fixed, stable |
| beau fixe | phrase | set fair (stable nice weather) |
| inquiet / inquiète | adj. | worried |
| Lille | n.pr. | Lille (city in northern France) |
| la météo | n.f. | weather forecast |
| un bulletin (météo) | n.m. | (weather) bulletin / report |
| un nuage | n.m. | cloud |
| la pluie | n.f. | rain |
| La Rochelle | n.pr. | La Rochelle (Atlantic coast) |
| Saint-Étienne | n.pr. | Saint-Étienne (centre-east) |
| Strasbourg | n.pr. | Strasbourg (Alsace, eastern France) |
| sûr / sûre | adj. | sure |
| la température | n.f. | temperature |
| le temps | n.m. | weather; time |
Grammar
How French works① The futur simple Simple future tense
📌 When to use it? For predictions, plans, or future certainties. Roughly equivalent to English "will + verb".
📐 How is it formed? infinitive + endings:
| parler | finir | prendre* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | parlerai | finirai | prendrai |
| tu | parleras | finiras | prendras |
| il / elle | parlera | finira | prendra |
| nous | parlerons | finirons | prendrons |
| vous | parlerez | finirez | prendrez |
| ils / elles | parleront | finiront | prendront |
* For -re verbs, drop the final e before adding the endings: prendr- + ai.
💡 Memory trick: the future endings are exactly the present-tense forms of avoir — j'ai, tu as, il a, nous (av)ons, vous (av)ez, ils ont! Makes sense: historically, the future = infinitive + avoir. (Same logic as English "I will have" feel.)
② Irregular futur simple stems 12 verbs to memorise
For these verbs, the stem is different from the infinitive. But the endings stay the same (-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont).
| Infinitive | Future stem | Example |
|---|---|---|
| avoir | aur- | j'aurai ("I will have") |
| être | ser- | je serai ("I will be") |
| aller | ir- | j'irai ("I will go") |
| savoir | saur- | je saurai ("I will know") |
| venir | viendr- | je viendrai ("I will come") |
| pouvoir | pourr- | je pourrai ("I will be able to") |
| voir | verr- | je verrai ("I will see") |
| faire | fer- | je ferai ("I will do/make") |
| devoir | devr- | je devrai ("I will have to") |
| vouloir | voudr- | je voudrai ("I will want") |
| falloir | faudr- | il faudra ("it will be necessary") |
| pleuvoir | pleuvr- | il pleuvra ("it will rain") |
💬 Tip for English speakers: these 12 verbs are essential — they turn up everywhere. Memorise the stem, then add the endings. Several have a double r: pourrai, verrai, courrai. The double r is pronounced — emphasise it!
③ How's the weather? Quel temps fait-il ?
To talk about the weather, French very often uses il fait…, il y a…, or just il… (impersonal verb — like English "it" in "it's raining"):
Il fait beau
it's nice outIl pleut
it's rainingIl neige
it's snowingIl fait du vent
it's windyIl fait du soleil
it's sunnyIl fait du brouillard
it's foggyIl fait froid
it's coldIl fait chaud
it's hotIl fait 15 degrés
it's 15°C📌 In the futur simple:
• Il pleuvra. "It will rain." (pleuvoir)
• Il fera beau. "It will be nice." (faire)
• Il y aura du soleil. "There will be sun." (avoir)
• Il neigera. "It will snow." (neiger)
How to say it
Useful chunks📅 Making a prediction
- Il pleuvra toute la journée. "It will rain all day."
- Vous aurez du soleil le matin. "You'll have sun in the morning."
- Le soleil brillera tout l'après-midi. "The sun will shine all afternoon."
- Les températures seront entre 15 et 23 degrés.
🎯 Expressing certainty
- Je suis sûr(e) que… / Je suis certain(e) que… "I'm sure that…"
- C'est certain ! "Definitely!"
- Le soleil brillera certainement. "The sun will surely shine."
🤔 Expressing probability
- Il y aura peut-être un peu de pluie. "There might be a bit of rain."
- Je crois qu'il fera beau. "I think it'll be nice."
- C'est probable. "Likely."
Practice
Try it outExercise 1 · Futur simple — regular verbs
Put the verbs in the futur simple.
- Demain, je à Brest. (partir)
- Vous votre travail à 18 h. (finir)
- Nous le train de 8 h. (prendre)
- Tu au directeur demain. (parler)
- Mes amis samedi soir. (arriver)
- Elle en juin. (rentrer)
Exercise 2 · Irregular futur simple
Conjugate. Watch out for the special stems.
- Je à Paris demain. (être)
- Nous du soleil cet après-midi. (avoir)
- Vous du sport ce week-end ? (faire)
- Demain, il dans le Nord. (pleuvoir)
- Tu à Marseille en juillet ? (aller)
- Je mes parents dimanche. (voir)
- Mes amis chez moi à Noël. (venir)
- Il partir tôt demain matin. (falloir)
- Je te téléphoner ce soir. (pouvoir)
- Nous les résultats demain. (savoir)
Exercise 3 · How's the weather?
Describe the weather with the right expression.
- 🌧️ → Il .
- ❄️ → Il .
- ☀️ → Il .
- 💨 → Il .
- 🥶 → Il .
- 🥵 → Il .
- 🌡️15° → Il .
Exercise 4 · You think so?
Answer with a degree of probability.
- Tu crois qu'il viendra ? — Je suis qu'il viendra.
- Tu crois qu'il pleuvra demain ? — Non, je suis qu'il fera beau.
- Tu crois qu'elle aura le travail ? — , c'est probable.
- Vous croyez que les enfants seront contents ? — !
Exercise 5 · Listening comprehension
Listen again to the weather forecast and fill in.
- What's the presenter's name? →
- What will the weather be in the North and East? →
- In the west, it will be sunny in the morning and… →
- In the south, the weather will be:
- Temperature in Marseille? →
- Temperature in Lille? →
Exercise 6 · Listening comprehension 2
Another forecast. Listen and take notes.
💡 No auto-correction — compare your notes with a partner.
Communicate
Real-world tasks🌤️ Weather forecast
With a partner, look at the weather map for your country (or the UK / US / Australia / France). Present a forecast to the class using the futur simple.
Useful sentences:
- Demain, à Londres, il fera 18°. Le soleil brillera toute la journée.
- À New York, il pleuvra le matin et il y aura des nuages l'après-midi.
- Dans le Sud, il fera très chaud, environ 35°.
🔮 In 10 years' time?
Imagine your life in 10 years. Ask a partner 5 questions in the futur simple and answer theirs.
Examples: Où habiteras-tu ? Tu seras marié(e) ? Tu auras des enfants ? Quel travail feras-tu ?
Pronunciation
Sound focusConsonant clusters groups of 2 or 3 consonants
In French, groups of 2 consonants (sometimes 3!) must be pronounced all together, with no inserted vowel. English speakers find this less of a problem than Mandarin speakers — but watch out for clusters that don't exist in English (like str-, vr-, ps-).
- Ils apprennent la grammaire. [a-pʁɛn] (3 consonants: p+r+n)
- Il a trouvé l'appareil par une annonce.
- Ils attendent le bulletin météo.
- Corrigez vos erreurs. (double r)
- Classez les mots en deux colonnes.
💬 Tip for English speakers: the cluster str- in Strasbourg [stʁas-buʁ] is pronounceable for you (you say "string", "stress"). The trickier one is -vr- in livre, ouvre — there's no real English equivalent. And the French [r] at the end of these clusters is uvular (back of the throat), not the English alveolar [r]. Don't insert a schwa: livre is not "li-vuh-ruh", it's [livʁ] in one breath.
📌 Frequent words with consonant clusters: strasbourg, prudent, problème, train, trois, quatre, croissant, professeur, programme.