Il pleut ; du coup, Paul attend.

In il pleut, il does not refer to a person or thing. It is an impersonal subject, sometimes called a dummy subject.

French usually requires a subject before a verb, so with weather expressions it uses il:

• il pleut = it is raining / it rains
• il neige = it is snowing
• il fait beau = the weather is nice

So here, il just fills the subject position. It does not mean a real he.

Pleut is the correct 3rd person singular present form of the verb pleuvoir:

• je — not normally used
• tu — not normally used
• il pleut = it rains / it is raining

You usually only see pleuvoir in the impersonal form il pleut when talking about weather.

Pleuve does exist, but it is a different form:

• it can be the subjunctive: qu’il pleuve
• or an older/literary form in some contexts

Pleut-il is possible, but that would be an inverted question form:

• Pleut-il ? = Is it raining?

So in a normal statement, il pleut is exactly what you want.

Du coup is a very common French connector. In this sentence, it means something like:

• so
• as a result
• because of that
• therefore

It links the first idea to the consequence:

• Il pleut → it’s raining
• du coup, Paul attend → so/as a result, Paul waits

A useful thing to know: du coup is very common in everyday spoken French. It is natural and frequent, but a bit less formal than some alternatives like:

• donc
• par conséquent
• de ce fait

Du is the contraction of de + le.

So:

• de + le = du

Historically, du coup literally comes from something like from that blow/impact, and by extension it came to mean as a result.

In modern everyday French, learners usually just treat du coup as a fixed expression meaning so / as a result.

The punctuation separates two closely related clauses:

• Il pleut
• du coup, Paul attend

The semicolon marks a stronger break than a comma, but still shows the ideas are connected.

The comma after du coup is common because du coup is being used as a linking expression at the start of the second clause.

You may also see other punctuation in real French, especially in less formal writing:

• Il pleut, du coup Paul attend.
• Il pleut. Du coup, Paul attend.

All of these can work, though punctuation style may vary.

French uses the present tense much more broadly than English does.

So Paul attend can mean:

• Paul waits
• Paul is waiting

The exact English translation depends on context.

That is very normal in French:

• Je mange = I eat / I am eating
• Elle travaille = she works / she is working

So in this sentence, Paul attend is simply the present tense, and English may choose either simple present or present continuous depending on the situation.

Attendre often does take an object:

• Paul attend Marie. = Paul is waiting for Marie.
• J’attends le bus. = I’m waiting for the bus.

But it can also be used without an object when the context makes the idea clear:

• Paul attend. = Paul is waiting.

So the sentence is grammatical as it stands. It simply does not say what or whom Paul is waiting for.

This is a very common learner question. English says wait for, but French usually uses attendre directly, without a preposition.

Compare:

• I’m waiting for Paul.
• J’attends Paul.

Not:

• J’attends pour Paul. ❌

So attendre is one of those verbs where French structure differs from English.

Yes, often you can, but the tone changes slightly.

Examples:

• Il pleut ; donc, Paul attend.
• Il pleut ; alors, Paul attend.
• Il pleut ; du coup, Paul attend.

General differences:

• donc = more neutral, straightforward therefore/so
• alors = so/then, often common in speech
• du coup = very common conversational so/as a result

So du coup is natural here, especially in everyday spoken-style French.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Il pleut ≈ eel plu
• du coup ≈ du koo
• Paul attend ≈ pol ah-ton

A few useful points:

• In pleut, the final -t is silent.
• In coup, the final -p is silent.
• In attend, the final -d is silent, and the vowel is nasal.

So the full sentence sounds roughly like:

eel plu; du koo, pol ah-ton

That is only an approximation for English speakers, but it helps you notice that several written final consonants are not pronounced.