À partir de janvier, il fait très froid.

Breakdown of À partir de janvier, il fait très froid.

il fait froid
it is cold (weather)
à partir de
from (a point on)
janvier
January

Questions & Answers about À partir de janvier, il fait très froid.

Why do we use à partir de to say "from" instead of depuis?
À partir de means "starting from" a specific point in time and looking forward. Depuis usually means "since" for an action that started in the past and is still happening. Because we are stating a general fact about when winter cold begins, "starting from January" (à partir de janvier) is the correct choice.
Could I use pendant here to talk about the time period?
Only if you want to change the meaning! If you say pendant janvier, it means the cold happens specifically "during" or "for" the month of January. À partir de means the cold starts in January and continues into the following months.
Why does the sentence use il fait instead of il est for "it is"?
In French, you use the verb faire (to do or make) to talk about the weather, rather than être (to be). So, while we say "it is cold" in English, French speakers say il fait froid (literally, "it makes cold").
Is it a mistake that janvier is written with a lowercase "j"?
Not a mistake! In French, months of the year and days of the week are always written with lowercase letters, unless they appear at the very beginning of a sentence.

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