As France is experiencing its hottest summer ever, la canicule (the heat wave) is the word on everyone’s lips. Many people wish they had air conditioning at home instead of having to take refuge in cooler public spaces. In this lesson, we'll find out what the French have to say about this hot weather and how they are coping.

La canicule (the heatwave), which started in early June 2026, is wreaking havoc on people’s health:

L'intense canicule qui frappe la France depuis une semaine... impacte directement notre santé et notre sommeil.

The intense heat wave that has been hitting France for a week... directly impacts our health and our sleep.

Captions 1, 4, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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As people complain bitterly about the heat, you will hear the very common expression avoir chaud (to be hot), as in j’ai chaud (I'm hot; literally, "I have heat"). This speaker adds an adverb, tellement chaud (so hot), for good measure:

J'ai tellement chaud.

I'm so hot.

Caption 2, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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Further along in the video, another person complains about being “too hot,” using the adverb trop:

J'ai trop, trop chaud.

I'm way too hot.

Caption 38, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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Both speakers used the verb avoir (to have) and said j’ai chaud (I’m hot)—NOT je suis chaud, which carries a sexual connotation in colloquial French.

However, it is safe to use être (to be) in the expression c’est chaud (it’s hot) to describe anything besides the temperature. A burning hot coal, for example:

Ouille là, c'est chaud, là!

Ouch, that's hot, there!

Caption 2, Il était une fois: Les Amériques 1. Les premiers Américains - Part 5

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On a side note, c’est chaud can also be used to describe a “heated situation,” as in “a bad situation,” in colloquial French. 

La guerre de Syrie et tout ça, c'est... Bon, c'est... c'est chaud.

The war in Syria and all that, it's... Well, it's... it's hot [bad].

Caption 46, Micro-Trottoirs Macron, fais pas l'autruche !

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For additional meanings of c’est chaud, click here.

But you can't use c'est chaud when talking about the weather. You have to use a different impersonal expression, il fait chaud:

Je pense que vous l'avez remarqué: il fait chaud !

I think you've noticed it: it's hot!

Caption 1, Le Huffington Post Canicule ou vague de chaleur, comment faire la différence ?

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You can also use the impersonal il fait to talk about the specific temperature. Just say il fait + X degrés (make sure to use Celsius, not Fahrenheit!):

Il fait quarante degrés.

It's forty degrees.

Caption 6, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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As you may have noticed in all the expressions above, chaud (hot) never changes as it works as an adverb. However, when used as an adjective, chaud has to agree in gender and number, as in la journée la plus chaude (the hottest day):

Et ce mercredi vingt-quatre juin est devenu la journée la plus chaude jamais enregistrée dans le pays,

And this Wednesday, June twenty-fourth became the hottest day ever recorded in the country,

Captions 24-25, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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The noun form of chaud/chaude is la chaleur (the heat):

En fait, cette chaleur, mais, euh... en fait c'est la canicule, hein ?

In fact, this heat, but, uh... in fact, it's a heat wave, huh?

Captions 4-5, Sophie et Patrice La chaleur

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Speaking of la chaleur (the heat), heat waves are a relatively new phenomenon in Europe, so most French homes n'ont pas de clim (don't have AC) yet. La clim (AC) is short for la climatisation (air conditioning).

Et évidemment dans nos appartements on n'a pas la clim.

And obviously in our apartments we don't have AC.

Captions 31-32, Français avec Nelly The Most Taboo Question in France - Part 1

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One solution is to spend the night in the comfort of un hôtel climatisé (an air-conditioned hotel):

Réserver une chambre d'hôtel climatisée pour passer la nuit.

Book an air-conditioned hotel room to spend the night.

Captions 88-89, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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Alternatively, there is a cheaper way to cool off—taking refuge in air-conditioned shopping malls:

C'est rafraîchissant, oui.

It's refreshing, yes.

Caption 58, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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It may be crowded, but it's much better than étouffer (suffocating) at home…

J'ai commencé à sentir que j'étouffais un peu et...

I started to feel like I was suffocating a bit and...

Caption 68, Le Parisien Canicule : fatigue et sautes d'humeur

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Now that you've acquired some new vocabulary and mastered the differences between il fait chaud (it's hot out), j'ai chaud (I'm hot), and c'est chaud (something is hot), you are all set to discuss the weather in French. Stay cool and thank you for reading!

Imitating the sound of an object or an animal is not easy to convey in writing, but it can be done! In fact, there is a special word derived from Greek for just that purpose, onomatopée (onomatopoeia), which is a close cousin to an interjection. (The distinction is open for debate as grammarians have conflicting views.)

Every language has its own version of onomatopoeia. For example, the sound of a rooster crowing will be rendered differently in various languages: 

• In French: cocorico

• In English: cock-a-doodle-doo

• In German: kikeriki

• In Italian: chicchirichì

Animal sounds are a great source of onomatopée:

Le coq fait cocorico tous les matins.

The rooster goes cock-a-doodle-doo every morning.

However, you might be surprised to know that in French, some onomatopoeias can double as interjections, a type of exclamation where the emphasis is not on the sound so much as the sentiment behind it. Indeed, in the video below, cocorico is more of an interjection, a cry for victory, and an expression of national pride, as the Gallic rooster is the symbol of France: 

Cocorico, bleu, blanc, rouge, pour nous les Nubians, pour la France

Cock-a-doodle-doo, blue, white, red, for us the Nubians, for France

Caption 33, Les Nubians Présentation

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Here is a more clear-cut example of onomatopoeia from the animal kingdom. A “French-speaking” dog goes ouaf! while its “English-speaking” counterpart goes "woof!" In the video below, "Ouaf!" is the name of a production involving dancing—and perhaps barking—dogs:

Des chiens dansants dans "Ouaf!"

Dancing dogs in "Woof!"

Caption 49, Extr@ Ep. 3 - Sam a un rendez-vous - Part 7

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Onomatopoeic words are not limited to representing animal noises. They can also mimic sounds of nature, such as plouf (splash), describing something falling into the water. Plouf is used as a noun in this video:

On fait un petit plouf et on se retrouve demain même heure

We're making a little splash and we're meeting again same time tomorrow

Caption 57, Le Mans TV Mon Village - Malicorne - Part 3

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Onomatopeoic words can also convey manmade sounds, such as loud explosions:

Et ça fait quoi le nucléaire pour les gens? -Ça fait boum!

And what does nuclear energy do to people? -It goes boom!

Caption 49, Manif du Mois Fukushima plus jamais ça

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The sound of gunfire, pan (bang), certainly qualifies as onomatopoeia:

Le fusil fait pan, pan, pan.

The gun goes bang, bang, bang.

However, in the example below, the focus is not so much on sound but instantaneity, making pan an interjection. The subject of this video is famous French photographer Cartier-Bresson, who knew when to click the shutter at just the right time:

Il y a une méditation. Dans la photo, il n'y en a pas. Pan!

It involves meditation. With photography, there is none. Snap!

Caption 21, Le Journal Le photographe Cartier-Bresson

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Like pan, the word paf will translate differently depending on whether we are talking about an onomatopoeia or an interjection. In the first instance, paf conveys the sound of something heavy hitting a hard surface:

Paf! Le livre est tombé par terre.

Thwack! The book fell on the floor.

In the second, paf is an interjection that conveys swift action. In this video, Sophie talks about quickly snipping cuttings in a public garden… without permission:

Paf! Tu coupes.

Bam! You cut.

Caption 44, Sophie et Patrice La maison verte

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Still with scissors in hand, Sophie uses tac instead of paf to imitate the snipping sound:

Tac! Je coupe et...

Snip! I cut and...

Caption 47, Sophie et Patrice La maison verte

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In another video, Sophie again uses tac to convey the sound of her homemade lamp turning on: Tac! (Click!)

Regarde, est-ce que ça marche? Tac!

Look, is it working? Click!

Caption 43, Sophie et Patrice Les lampes de Sophie - Part 2

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In yet another situation, Sophie says tac tac tac (tap tap tap) while making madeleines to imitate the sound of breaking eggs:

Tu prends tes trois œufs, tac tac tac.

You take your three eggs, tap tap tap.

Caption 40, Sophie et Patrice Les madeleines

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Fortunately, Sophie kept her fingers intact during all her ventures. If she hadn't, she might have used the interjections ouille! (ouch!) or aïe! (ow!)

Ouille là, c'est chaud, là!

Ouch, that's hot, there!

Caption 2, Il était une fois: Les Amériques 1. Les premiers Américains - Part 5

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Aïe! Mais pourquoi tu as fait ça?

Ow! Why did you do that?

Caption 11, Extr@ Ep. 10 - Annie proteste - Part 8

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Had she cut herself, she might have had to call on emergency services, with their distinctive sirens:

Pin-pon! Pin-pon!

Woo-woo! Woo-woo!  [sound made by a two-tone siren]

Caption 2, Les zooriginaux Repos corsé - Part 2

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As this lesson draws to a close, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief—ouf! (phew!)—like the princess in the video below:

La princesse était très soulagée. -Ouf! Celle-là, je ne la reverrai pas de si tôt.

The princess was very relieved. -Phew! I won't be seeing that one again any time soon.

Captions 11-12, Contes de fées Le roi grenouille - Part 2

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For more examples of onomatopoeia, you may want to explore Yabla's animated series or simply browse through our video library. Ouf! La leçon est terminée!