Ara fa sol, però després plou.

now

Breakdown of Ara fa sol, però després plou.

• però: but
• després: afterwards
• fer sol: to be sunny

Questions & Answers about Ara fa sol, però després plou.

Why does Catalan say fa sol instead of using a single verb for to be sunny?

Fa sol is the normal Catalan way to say it is sunny.

Literally, fa means it makes / it does, and sol means sun, so the expression is built differently from English. Catalan often uses fixed weather expressions like this:

• fa sol = it is sunny
• fa vent = it is windy
• fa fred = it is cold
• fa calor = it is hot

So even though the English translation uses is, Catalan naturally uses fa in this kind of weather expression.

Why is there no word for it in fa sol and plou?

In Catalan, weather verbs and weather expressions usually do not need a subject pronoun.

English says:

• It is sunny.
• It rains.

But Catalan simply says:

• fa sol
• plou

The it in English does not refer to anything real; it is just a grammatical placeholder. Catalan does not need that placeholder here.

Why is plou in the present tense if després means later / afterwards?