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Il fait chaud, je vais à la piscine.

Il fait chaud, je vais à la piscine.
It is hot, I am going to the swimming pool.
From Lesson 38:The verb to do/make (faire)·French

Questions & Answers about Il fait chaud, je vais à la piscine.

Why do we use fait instead of est for 'It is hot'?
In French, you use the verb faire (to do / to make) to talk about the general weather, not être (to be). So instead of saying 'It is hot', French speakers literally say 'It makes hot' (Il fait chaud).
The lesson says faire means 'to do' or 'to make'. Is fait the normal 'it' form of the verb here?
Yes! Il fait is the standard third-person singular (he/she/it) form of the irregular verb faire in the present tense. You use this exact same form for regular actions too, like il fait un gâteau (he is making a cake).
What verb does vais come from?
Vais is the je (I) form of the highly irregular verb aller (to go). Remember that French doesn't have a separate 'am going' tense, so je vais translates to both 'I go' and 'I am going'.
Why do we say à la piscine instead of just à piscine?
French almost always requires an article (like 'the' or 'a') before a noun. À means 'to', and la means 'the'. Because piscine (swimming pool) is a feminine word, à and la stay separate as à la. If the destination were masculine, like le parc, they would combine into au parc.

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