Learn Hardcore French: Quand il pleut, je reste dedans et je téléphone au taxi plutôt que de marcher. - When it rains, I stay inside and call the taxi instead of walking.

Why is the present tense (il pleut, je reste, je téléphone) used, even though in English we would say “When it rains, I stay inside and I call a taxi” to talk about a general habit?

In French, the present tense is used for:

current actions: Il pleut = It is raining (now)
general truths and habits: Quand il pleut, je reste dedans = When(ever) it rains, I stay inside.

English also uses the present for habits, so “When it rains, I stay inside” is parallel. The French present here does not need will; you don’t say Quand il pleuvra, je resterai dedans unless you’re talking about one specific future situation, not a habit.

So:

Habit / general rule: Quand il pleut, je reste dedans.
One specific time in the future: Quand il pleuvra, je resterai dedans.

What does il mean in il pleut? Is it referring to “he” or “it”?

In il pleut, il is a dummy subject (an impersonal “it”), just like English “it” in “it rains / it is raining”. It does not refer to a person.

Other similar weather expressions:

Il neige. – It’s snowing.
Il fait froid. – It’s cold.
Il fait beau. – The weather is nice.

You always need this il in such impersonal expressions; you can’t drop it in French.

What is the difference between dedans, à l’intérieur, and chez moi / à la maison? Is je reste dedans natural?

Dedans literally means “inside”, and here it's an adverb: je reste dedans ≈ “I stay inside.” It’s understandable and can be natural, often in casual speech.

However, French is usually more specific about where you’re staying:

Je reste à l’intérieur. – I stay inside (inside the building / house).
Je reste à la maison. – I stay (at) home.
Je reste chez moi. – I stay at my place.

Je reste dedans suggests “I stay inside (rather than going out)”, without specifying inside what. In many contexts it’s fine, but à l’intérieur, à la maison, or chez moi are often more idiomatic, depending on what you mean.

Why is it je téléphone au taxi and not je téléphone le taxi, like English “I phone the taxi”?

The verb téléphoner in French works differently from English to phone / to call.

In French, you téléphoner à quelqu’un (phone to someone).
The person is an indirect object with à.

So:

Je téléphone au taxi. = I phone the taxi (company / driver).
- au = à + le.

You cannot say je téléphone le taxi; that’s incorrect in standard French.

If you want a structure more parallel to English, you can use appeler:

J’appelle un taxi. – I call a taxi.
Here, un taxi is a direct object, like in English.

Why do we say au taxi instead of à le taxi?

Au is a contraction of à + le:

à + le taxi → au taxi

French always contracts:

à + le → au
de + le → du

So you must say:

Je téléphone au taxi. (not à le taxi)
Je parle au chauffeur. (not à le chauffeur)

Is there a difference in meaning between je téléphone au taxi and j’appelle un taxi?

Yes, there’s a nuance:

Je téléphone au taxi.
Suggests you are phoning the taxi company / taxi driver. It focuses on the action of calling by phone.
J’appelle un taxi.
Means “I call a taxi” in the sense of ordering / summoning a taxi. It doesn’t necessarily emphasize the phone; you could be using an app, asking a receptionist to call, etc.

In everyday speech, J’appelle un taxi is often the more common, neutral way to say “I’ll get a taxi”.

Why is it plutôt que de marcher and not just plutôt que marcher?

After plutôt que followed by a verb, French requires de + infinitive:

plutôt que de marcher – rather than walking
plutôt que de prendre le bus – rather than taking the bus

The pattern is:

plutôt que de + infinitive

You can drop de only when plutôt que is followed by a noun or pronoun:

Je préfère le bus plutôt que la voiture.
Je préfère toi plutôt que lui.

But with a verb, you must say:

plutôt que de marcher, not plutôt que marcher.

Why do we use an infinitive (marcher) after plutôt que de, and not something like “en marchant”?

In French, when you compare two actions with “rather than …‑ing”, the standard structure is:

plutôt que de + infinitive

So:

… plutôt que de marcher. – … rather than (to) walk / walking.

The form en marchant (the gérondif) means “while walking / by walking”, which expresses circumstances or manner, not a choice between two alternative actions.

Compare:

Je téléphone au taxi plutôt que de marcher.
I choose calling a taxi instead of walking.
Je téléphone au taxi en marchant.
I phone the taxi while walking. (Different meaning.)

Can we put plutôt que de marcher earlier in the sentence, or does it have to be at the end?

It’s normally placed after the main clause, as in the original:

Quand il pleut, je reste dedans et je téléphone au taxi plutôt que de marcher.

You could slightly rearrange for emphasis or style:

Quand il pleut, plutôt que de marcher, je reste dedans et je téléphone au taxi.
This is acceptable but a bit more formal or stylistic. The most natural, neutral order is to leave plutôt que de marcher at the end, as in the original sentence.

Why is it quand il pleut and not si il pleut? What’s the difference between quand and si here?

Both quand and si can sometimes be translated as “when”, but:

Quand means when / whenever and is for time:
- Quand il pleut, je reste dedans.
  When(ever) it rains, I stay inside. (A habitual reaction to a type of weather.)
Si means if and expresses a condition:
- Si il pleut, je resterai dedans. (Normally written S’il pleut.)
  If it rains, I’ll stay inside. (Conditional, for a specific future situation.)

In your sentence, we’re talking about a habitual behavior whenever it rains, so quand is the natural choice.

What’s the difference between quand and lorsque in Quand il pleut, je reste dedans? Could we use lorsque?

Yes, you could say:

Lorsque il pleut, je reste dedans…
(actually, you’d contract: Lorsqu’il pleut, je reste dedans…)

Quand vs lorsque:

Quand is more common and neutral, used in all registers.
Lorsque is a bit more formal or literary, but very common in written French.

In everyday spoken French, quand is more frequent. For a learner, quand is the safer default.

Why is there a comma after Quand il pleut?

When a subordinate clause of time or condition comes at the beginning of a sentence, French usually uses a comma:

Quand il pleut, je reste dedans.
Si tu veux, on peut partir maintenant.
Quand j’ai le temps, je lis.

If the clause comes at the end, a comma is usually not used:

Je reste dedans quand il pleut.
On peut partir maintenant si tu veux.

So the comma is there simply because “Quand il pleut” is placed at the start.

Why is the subject je repeated (je reste, je téléphone) instead of dropping it like in Spanish or Italian?

French is not a “pro‑drop” language: you must use subject pronouns in almost all cases:

Je reste dedans et je téléphone au taxi.
Tu viens ?
Il travaille.

Unlike Spanish (e.g. “Me quedo dentro y llamo al taxi”) or Italian, French verb endings are not distinct enough in everyday speech to always identify the subject clearly. So the pronoun je, tu, il, etc. is required.

You cannot normally say:

Reste dedans et téléphone au taxi.
unless it’s an imperative (giving orders), which changes the meaning to “Stay inside and phone the taxi.”

Are there more idiomatic alternatives for the whole sentence?

Yes, depending on the nuance. Some very natural variants:

Quand il pleut, je reste à la maison et j’appelle un taxi plutôt que de marcher.
When it rains, I stay home and call a taxi instead of walking.
Quand il pleut, je reste à l’intérieur et j’appelle un taxi au lieu de marcher.
au lieu de = instead of.
Quand il pleut, je ne marche pas, je prends un taxi.
Simpler, more conversational: When it rains, I don’t walk, I take a taxi.

All of these convey the same basic idea, with slightly different levels of formality and precision.