Question for French speakers

[Shut Up Legs]

I know there are some CycleChat French-speaking members, so perhaps you could clarify something for me. I posted

Il était très froid ce matin

on an Australian cycling forum (because it was very cold this morning over here), and someone replied saying that

Il faisait très froid ce matin

would be better, because apparently the former refers to a 'he' while the latter refers to an 'it'.
How does that work, exactly, given that faisait is the indicative imperfect version of the French verb faire (English = make / do)? I'm confused about that one.

Regards and merci,

--- Victor.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I did ask one of my French work colleagues, who conveniently enough sits at the desk next to me, and she said the latter translation is the correct one, although she couldn't tell me why a form of the verb faire is used in that context. She also mentioned that 'fait froid' or 'faisait froid' is a commonly used phrase in that context.
It's handy working for a French company, but I still wanted to share this with any French-speaking CycleChat members also, because I find these discussions interesting.

 

[biggs682]

My French goes as far as Bonjour

@woodbutcher should or might have a say

 

[gavroche]

You are correct in your explanation of "he" and "it". The weather is "made" by climatic changes so the use of the verb "faire" which stands for "to do" or "to make" is the one to use. I hope this clarifies your request.

 

[oldfatfool]

I would have said 'IT IS VERY COLD THIS MORNING'

 

[woodbutcher]

My French goes as far as Bonjour

@woodbutcher should or might have a say

il fait très froid ce matin would get the message cross but then l hail from east anglia ( Lincs. Norfolk combination) so l grew up thinking "cold enough to freeze the balls on a brass monkey" and "blast me boy thats a lazy old wind this morning" were normal ways to communicate ones appreciation of the weather

 

[smutchin]

That's interesting, @gavroche. Tbh, I've never questioned why the French use 'faire' for the weather, I've always just accepted it as idiomatic.

'Il était froid' is the kind of mistake you make when you attempt literal word-for-word translation. Listen to a French person speaking English and you'll often hear similar mistakes being made.

 

[woodbutcher]

I would have said 'IT IS VERY COLD THIS MORNING'

And with plenty of volume ?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Faire + weather is standard usage. The il in il était froid appears to refer to a male or a masculine noun because French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese don't have a neuter case: it's almost as if languages grown out of Latin don't have a simple word for /it/.

Whereas, of course, neuter is very much used in the English language - it's very rare to assign a masculine or feminine form to anything other than a gendered object, such as humans and animals. Ships, cars and a few institutions will sometimes be referred to as 'she' but these are exceptions and probably (hopefully...) on the wane.

It's almost as if, when Latin as a living language was dwindling, French, Italian, etc, made a bid for masculine and feminine and English went for neuter. The Germans, naturlich, went for all three...

 

[I like Skol]

I would have said 'IT IZ VERY COALED THIS MOANING'

You are officer Crabtree AICMFP

 

[Shut Up Legs]

You are correct in your explanation of "he" and "it". The weather is "made" by climatic changes so the use of the verb "faire" which stands for "to do" or "to make" is the one to use. I hope this clarifies your request.

Oui, merci beacoup, Monsieur gavroche.

 

[Beebo]

And with plenty of volume ?

And very slooooooowly.
Then repeat louder and slower, with increasing use of hand gestures.

 

[Lee_M]

"cold enough to freeze the balls on a brass monkey"

off a brass monkey, not on. It refers to iron cannonballs on ships sitting on a brass base (the monkey). When cold the brass contracts differently from the iron and they would roll off the indentations

 

[Shut Up Legs]

[QUOTE 4833771, member: 259"]"Je me gèle les couilles" would do for that.[/QUOTE]
I think I'll avoid that one when I'm over there, the consequences could be bad...

 

[jefmcg]

I would have said 'IT IS VERY COLD THIS MORNING'

No, you wouldn't have. It only got down to 4C, which is cold for Melbourne, obvs, but not for a hardy Englishman

OK, to be fair, "Feels like" got down to 0.6, which is starting get into brass monkey territory.

Speaking of that ....

off a brass monkey, not on. It refers to iron cannonballs on ships sitting on a brass base (the monkey). When cold the brass contracts differently from the iron and they would roll off the indentations

Gotta love folk etymology, but I'm afraid this is not true.

I do remember my father's delight when an Australian weatherman described the overnight temperatures as cold enough to freeze the walls off a bark humpy.

(that joke probably works better if you have heard of a bark humpy before).