Il porte un manteau chaud parce qu’il fait froid.

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Breakdown of Il porte un manteau chaud parce qu’il fait froid.

• parce que: because
• porter: to wear
• le manteau: the coat
• chaud: warm
• faire: to do
• froid: cold

Questions & Answers about Il porte un manteau chaud parce qu’il fait froid.

Why do we say “Il fait froid” instead of “Il est froid”?

In French, talking about the general weather uses the construction il fait, such as il fait froid, il fait chaud, or il fait beau. Saying il est froid would imply that someone or something personally is cold rather than describing the weather.

Why is “manteau” masculine, and how can I remember its article?

Nouns in French can be either masculine or feminine, and manteau happens to be a masculine noun that takes the article un. To remember this, it can help to learn common clothing articles with their articles in standard phrases, such as un manteau, un chapeau, and un pantalon.

Why do we say “un manteau chaud” and not “un chaud manteau”?

In French, most adjectives come after the noun. The adjective chaud (warm) follows manteau (coat). While there are exceptions (like beau manteau, petit manteau, etc.), these exceptions are relatively few, so it’s generally correct to place the adjective after the noun.

Why does “il” appear again in “parce qu’il fait froid”?

The second il refers to the impersonal subject for weather expressions. French uses il in phrases like il fait froid, il pleut, and il neige. Even though the same pronoun il is used, it functions differently here than the personal pronoun referring to “he.”

How do I pronounce “porte” and “manteau”?

• porte: The final “-e” is not pronounced. It sounds like “port” in English, but with a softer “r.”
• manteau: The “man-” sounds similar to “mahn,” and the “-teau” sounds like “to.” So together it’s roughly “mahn-to.”