J'aime boire de l'eau froide quand il fait chaud.

I like to drink cold water when it is hot.

Breakdown of J'aime boire de l'eau froide quand il fait chaud.

• je: I
• aimer: to like
• l'eau: the water
• boire: to drink
• de l': some
• quand: when
• froid: cold
• chaud: hot

Questions & Answers about J'aime boire de l'eau froide quand il fait chaud.

Why do we say de l’eau instead of l’eau or une eau?

In French, de l’eau indicates an unspecified amount of water (partitive article), rather than a particular water or a specific unit of water. The combination de l’ is used because eau is a feminine noun beginning with a vowel.

Why is froide added after eau?

In French, most adjectives go after the noun. Froide describes the temperature of the water, so it follows eau. Because eau is feminine, the adjective is also in its feminine form, froide.

What is the role of quand in this sentence?

Quand means when in English. It introduces a subordinate clause that indicates the time during which something happens—in this case, the time when it’s hot.

Why do we say il fait chaud instead of c’est chaud?

In French, the common way to express the weather being hot is il fait chaud (literally, “it makes hot”). C’est chaud typically means something else, like an object is physically hot to the touch, rather than describing the weather.

How does the verb structure J’aime boire differ from English?

In French, when you like or love doing something, you can say J’aime boire, using the infinitive boire after aimer. In English, you would often use I like to drink or I like drinking. Both structures convey the same idea, but French uses the infinitive consistently after aimer.