it's windy

Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker

Senior Member
English Canada
In Canada I think you would hear Il vente. I think Il y a du vent would also be correct. I have seen Il fait du vent but I'm not sure this is current or correct. I vaguely remember a thread on this, if indeed it was this site, but I can't find it. Any thoughts on a windy day? Merci d'avance.
 
    • A ma connaissance on dit : " Il vente " ou " Il y a du vent ".
    Je n'ai jamais rencontré " Il fait du vent " ... J'ignore si c'est correct ou pas.

    Peut-ête d'autres avis?
     
    I say il vente or il fait un de ces vents / il fait un vent à écorner les boeufs (in France they say décorner)

    Il fait du vent sounds very odd to my ears... and I don't say il y a du vent either.

    This may be the thread you had in mind. :)
     
    I learned French in high school here in Australia (in the seventies). My French teacher taught us that:

    It is windy = Il fait du vent

    I have read French extensively on the Internet (mainly online newspapers) and I have never come across 'Il vente' or 'Il y a du vent'. My French teacher impressed on us however that we were learning Parisian French. Perhaps these expressions are not used in Paris but are used in Canada or elsewhere in Francophonie.
     
    Thank you Nicomon for finding that thread for me. I've printed it out and I swear I won't plague my patient friends again. I'd like to settle this thing in my mind once and for all. I'm going to post some more Il fait...weather expressions and get some reactions.
     
    "Il fait du vent" in this context may be an archaic expression, since I've found it only in the 1740 edition of "Le dictionnaire de l'académie française" and I've never heard this expression as a reference to the fact that it's windy, which does not necessarily prove its nonexistence, of course.

    However, I've said and heard "il fait du vent" in other contexts.
    ex) Il fait du vent (part, s'en va) lorsqu'il se sent de trop. (informal expression)

    other il fait...weather expressions:
    Il fait chaud/froid/frais/beau/soleil/25 degrés celsius
     
    I guess weather related expression depend a lot on the considered region, because they usually are part of the local tradition. Nicomon doesn't say il y a du vent, whereas this is utterly common where I live.
    So il fait du vent might be totally outdated in some part of the word, and still common elsewhere.
     
    Hello Charlie

    Another thread (FS Only) I've already mentioned in the thread Nicomon found out.
    I think, "il fait du vent" is one of these expressions which are only used in the South of France ...
     
    tilt said:
    Nicomon doesn't say il y a du vent, whereas this is utterly common where I live.
    Click to expand...

    I don't say it... but I've heard it. I guess it's du that bothers me. I do say, for instance, il y a un bon vent. :)

    As for fait du vent, and as mentioned in the other thread, to us it means "got out". Another local expression is déguises-toi en courant d'air.:D
     
    Nicomon said:
    As for fait du vent, and as mentioned in the other thread, to us it means "got out". Another local expression is déguises-toi en courant d'air.:D
    Click to expand...
    Amusant! :)
    Ici on dit "allez, du vent" ou "du vent" tout simplement - souvent accompagné d'un geste... -(dégage, go out)

    Windy = il fait venteux, il y a du vent. Il vente est exact aussi mais très peu utilisé.
    A windy day : un jour venteux.
     
    "Il fait du vent" me semble peu correct, j'emploie personnellement "il y a du vent" ou "le vent souffle".
    L'expression "il fait du vent" rapportée à une personne siginifie"il s'agite beaucoup sans grand résultat"
    Hope it helps
     
    Merci mthvd. J'ai trouvé ceci sur Internet : « On ne peut pas dire je fais du vent (bon sauf si j'ai mangé un bol d'haricots) »
     
    @ zapspan, who reanimated this thread : « Il fait venteux » may be a regionalism.
    But I for one wouldn't hesitate to say : c'est venteux / le temps est venteux.

    I haven't changed my mind since this thread : It's sunny and windy and this other thread : (jour) venteux

    Quant à Ngram :
    J'ai des réserves, surtout en français, au sujet de cet outil pour des termes courants/non littéraires. Mais à moins de faire une recherche historique j'entrerais les dates 1950 2008 (dernière mise à jour) pour obtenir des résultats plus « contemporains ». :)
     
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