25 French Rain Expressions & Videos ☔️

First, I will list the French vocabulary about rain and storm which Leyla will then illustrate in her video using the popular video game Minecraft.

Scroll down to see the videos.

1 – How Do You Say Rain in French?

Rain in French is “la pluie”.

Here are some other French rain names:

1. La bruine : drizzle
2. le crachin : drizzle
3. L’averse : shower
4. L’ondée (f) : rain
5. Les précipitations (f) : word use in weather forecast to measure rain
6. La goutte : the drop

2 – French Storm Words

1. La tempête : storm, tempest
2. L’orage (masculine) : electric storm
3. Un éclair – lightning in the sky
4. La foudre – lightning bolt
5. Le tonnerre – thunder
6. Le tonnerre gronde – thunder is rumbling

3 – How To Say To Rain In French

To rain in French is “pleuvoir”.

Pleuvoir is always conjugated at the “il” form. The “il” doesn’t stand for anybody, it’s just the way we use this verb.

1. Il pleut – it’s raining, it rains
2. Il a plu – it rained (sometimes it was raining)
3. Il pleuvait – it rained, it was raining
4. Il va pleuvoir – it’s going to rain
5. Il pleuvra – it will rain
6. Qu’il pleuve – that it rains (subjunctive)

How to talk about the weather in French is explained thoroughly bilingual story + audio in my intermediate French learning audiobook method, À Moi Paris L3 chapter 14.

4 – Talking About Rain in French

Here is a live, unscripted video I made where I talk about rain and rainy weather in French.

5 – French Mistake: To Rain vs To Cry

Watch out for this common mistake:

1. Il pleut – it’s raining, it rains
2. Il pleure – he is crying, he cries

6 – French Rain Expressions

1. Il fait mauvais = il ne fait pas beau : it’s bad out, it’s not nice out.
2. Le déluge : the Flood ( in the Bible)
   Après moi le déluge ! ( expression from Madame de Pompadour) meaning What happens when I am gone is none of my concern !
3. Une pluie battante, torrentielle : driving rain
4. Il pleut/il tombe des cordes, il pleut des trombes, il pleut à verse, il pleut à torrent : it’s pouring
5. Il pleut comme vache qui pisse : a bit vulgar but very common (literally it rains like a pissing cow) = it’s raining cats and dogs
6. Il fait un temps de chien : the weather is awful (watch out – this doesn’t mean the weather is necessarily hot like “dog days of summer”… We use “il fait un temps de chien” a lot for rainy weather. (literally it’s a weather suitable for dogs)
7. Il fait un temps de cochon : the weather is awful. (literally it’s a weather suitable for pigs)
8. Il fait un froid de canard : it’s very cold out. (literally it’s a nice cold weather for ducks)

7 – Learn the French Rain Vocabulary With Minecraft & Leyla

And now let’s watch Leyla’s video about rainy weather in French, using the popular video game Minecraft.

You’ll find the French transcript and English translation below.

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Quel temps fait-il aujourd’hui ?
How is the weather today?

Aujourd’hui, il ne fait pas beau !
Today, it’s not nice out!

Il fait mauvais.
It’s bad out.

Il pleut.
It’s raining.

Il pleut fort.
It’s raining hard.

Il pleut des cordes.
It’s pouring.

Il pleut à verse.
It’s pouring.

Il pleut à torrent.
It’s pouring.

Il fait un temps de chien
It’s an awful weather.

il fait un temps de cochon.
It’s an awful weather.

Ce n’est pas élégant, mais on dit aussi qu’Il pleut comme vache qui pisse… Enfin moi, je ne dirai jamais ça !
It’s not elegant, but we also say that it rains like a peeing cow… Well I would never say that!

Et en plus, il fait un froid de canard !
And to top it all, it’s cold out!

—–

Ce soir, il y a de l’orage. Il y a des éclairs, et le tonnerre gronde.
Tonight, there is a storm. There are lightnings and the thunder is rumbling.

Le vent souffle fort aussi: c’est la tempête dehors.
The wind blows strongly as well: there is a tempest outside.

Je vais rester à l’intérieur et m’occuper de mon chien qui a peur du tonnerre.
I’m going to stay inside and take care of my dog who is afraid of thunder.

Calme-toi. Tout va bien !
Calm down! It’s all good.

Zut alors. Ce matin, il pleuvait déjà.
Darn. This morning, it rained already.

En fait, il a plu toute la journée, et ce soir, il pleut encore.
Actually, it rained all day, and tonight, it is still raining.

C’est important qu’il pleuve : la pluie arrose le jardin et fait pousser les légumes et les fleurs…
It’s important that it rains: the rain waters the garden and (helps) vegetables and flowers to grow.

Mais quand même, c’est plus agréable quand il fait beau et qu’il y a du soleil .
But still, it’s nicer when the weather is nice and the sun is out.

Demain, je pense qu’il va pleuvoir à nouveau, mais j’espère qu’il ne pleuvra pas toute la journée !
Tomorrow, I think it’s going to rain again, but I hope it’s not going to rain all day long!

Voilà, c’est tout pour aujourd’hui.
Here you go, that’s all for today.

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