France has had its fair share of rain lately. After an exceptionally wet winter and spring combined with an unseasonably cool start to summer, French people cannot wait for the sun to return. In a recent Yabla video, Sophie and Alexandre join the chorus of complaints about the rainy weather, which has been causing them all kinds of problems! Let’s listen to what they have to say and explore some rain-related vocabulary in the process.

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This isn't the first time Sophie has complained about the rain. In one of her earlier videos with Patrice, Sophie finds la pluie (the rain) a bit bloquante (off-putting), as she has to go to the market in the rain:

C'est un peu bloquant pour faire le marché là sous la pluie.

It's a bit off-putting to go to the market here in the rain.

Captions 2-3, Sophie et Patrice La pluie

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On the other hand, Patrice does not mind when il pleut (it rains):

Oh, il pleut à peine.

Oh, it's barely raining.

Caption 4, Sophie et Patrice La pluie

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Note that phrases describing the weather often start with the impersonal pronoun il (it). For more on that, see our lesson Don't Take It Personally.

Patrice even enjoys le mauvais temps (bad weather):

J'ai toujours aimé le mauvais temps, moi

I've always liked bad weather

Caption 66, Sophie et Patrice La pluie

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In her new video with Alexandre, Sophie still feels the same way about la pluie. She hates le temps pourri (the rotten weather):

Waouh, t'as vu le temps pourri ?

Wow, have you seen the rotten weather?

Caption 1, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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She has good reason to complain, as it has been going on for weeks! 

Ça fait des semaines que ça dure...

It's been going on for weeks...

Caption 3, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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Worse still, every time Sophie goes outside, she ends up with des chaussures trempées (soaking-wet shoes): 

Non, mais mes chaussures, elles sont tout le temps trempées.

No, but my shoes are soaking wet all the time.

Caption 16, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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Fortunately, Alexandre, who has a practical mind, offers a simple solution: des bottes (boots).

Tu sors avec tes bottes.

You go out with your boots on.

Caption 27, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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To complete the look, Alexandre might have suggested she wear un ciré (a rain slicker), like the one the fisherman wears in this video:

...le papi, en fait, qui est assis sur sa petite chaise pliante avec son ciré, ses bottes et sa bouteille de rouge

...the grandpa, in fact, who is sitting on his little folding chair with his slicker, his boots, and his bottle of red [wine]

Captions 18-20, TV Tours Un moment de pêche sur le Cher

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Instead of the ungainly plastic ciré, Sophie might prefer the more fashionable look of un imperméable avec une capuche (a hooded raincoat), which is made of waterproof fabric:

Elle préfèrerait sans doute porter un imperméable avec une capuche.

She probably would prefer a hooded raincoat.

In any event, une capuche (a hood) would have solved Sophie’s problem with her hair, which frisent (gets frizzy) with l’humidité (the humidity):

Et l'humidité, c'est terrible pour mes cheveux.

And the humidity is terrible for my hair.

Caption 91, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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Je frise.

I get frizzy.

Caption 37, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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Anyway, instead of une capuche, Alexandre suggests wearing un bonnet (a hat), which Sophie flatly turns down, as it would make her hair plats (flat):

Tu mets un bonnet. -Ah non ! Non non. Non, c'est pas possible parce qu'après j'ai les cheveux plats.

You put on a hat. -Oh no ! No no. No, it's not possible because afterwards I have flat hair.

Captions 46-48, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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Sophie has a better solution: un parapluie (an umbrella).

Le parapluie, ça marche aussi.

The umbrella works too.

Caption 79, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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Still, this is a lost cause, as she is bound to forget her parapluie and end up with les cheveux mouillés (wet hair) anyway!

Ben, tu te retrouves avec les cheveux mouillés.

Well, you end up with wet hair.

Caption 86, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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Sophie may have wished she had checked la météo (the weather forecast) before venturing out, but that might have also been pointless because, as Alexandre points out, it is not very reliable:

Ben pourtant, à la météo ils le disent pas.

Well, and yet, in the weather forecast they don't say that.

Caption 6, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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The forecasters tend to be overly optimistic, only showing des petits nuages (little clouds):

Il fait juste des petits nuages.

It's just little clouds.

Caption 7, Sophie et Alexandre Et la pluie ?

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La météo might even fail to mention averses (showers):

À Paris et en France, le temps a été exécrable, euh... il y a eu des averses et des pluies

In Paris and in France, the weather has been execrable, uh... there have been showers and rain

Captions 24-25, Lionel L La Seine sort de son lit

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Whether you enjoy rainy weather or not, it pays to be prepared. So, here is a summary of the vocabulary from this lesson that might come in handy:

la météo: the weather forecast

un nuage: a cloud

la pluie: the rain

une averse: a shower

un temps pourri: rotten weather

le mauvais temps: bad weather

un imperméable: a waterproof raincoat

un ciré: a slicker

des bottes: boots

un bonnet: a hat

une capuche: a hood

un parapluie: an umbrella

être mouillé: to be wet

être trempé: to be soaking wet

il pleut: it rains/it’s raining

il fait des nuages: it’s cloudy

Armed with this new vocabulary, you'll be able to parler de la pluie et du beau temps (to make small talk; literally, "to talk about the rain and nice weather"). We wish you a sunny and happy summer. Thank you for reading!

Partir normally means “to leave,” as in nous sommes partis (we left). However, c’est parti is an idiomatic expression that has little to do with its literal meaning, "it left." So, without further ado, let’s explore the various shades of meaning of this very popular catchphrase. C’est parti! (Here we go!)

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When it’s clear from the context that we’re talking in the past tense, c’est parti has a fairly straightforward meaning: “it started." In the video below, the speaker discusses how the Belleville upcycling center began: 

Et puis voilà. C'est comme ça que c'est parti.

And there you are. That's how it started.

Caption 117, Actu Vingtième Le bleu dans les yeux, recyclerie de Belleville

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So far so good. However, c’est parti doesn't always refer to something in the past, despite its verb being in the past tense. In fact, c’est parti usually describes an event that hasn’t happened yet. It tells us that something is about to start. Moreover, c’est parti is often accompanied with an exclamation mark to reflect the enthusiasm of the person starting an activity:

Et nous, on goûte. Allez, c'est parti! Fourchettes! Bon appétit!

And we're going to taste it. OK, here we go! Forks out! Bon appétit!

Caption 116, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano Médaillon de Homard - Part 3

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You can even add a little color to the expression by saying, Cest parti, mon kiki! Kiki is a colloquial term for "throat," but it only appears here for the rhyme:

C’est parti, mon kiki! 

Let’s get cracking!

In any case, c’est parti used on its own is something people say when they want to get started, like Amal setting off on a bike ride in the following video:

Voilà! C'est parti.

There! Let's go.

Caption 46, Amal Vélib

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Later in the same video, you will find another variation in the English translation of c’est parti:

Voilà. C'est bon. Le vélo... Et c'est parti!

There. It's good. The bike... And off you go!

Caption 50, Amal Vélib

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Similarly, c’est parti can also mean “we’re off”:

C'est parti, on y va.

And we're off, here we go.

Caption 44, Delphine et Automne Le gâteau au yaourt - Part 2

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Saying c’est parti is a perfect way to announce the start of a race. It's equivalent to on y va (let’s go/here we go):

Bon ben c'est parti. -Top chrono, c'est parti.

Good, well, here we go. -Starting now, here we go.

Caption 37, Joanna La course à pied: Conseils

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Another variation of c’est parti is c’est parti pour (for) in combination with a time period, to indicate duration: 

C'est donc parti pour trois jours de concert. Au programme, musique classique et jazz

So it's off for a three-day concert. On the program: classical music and jazz

Caption 2, Grand Lille TV Un piano dans le métro!

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C’est parti pour can also introduce what’s coming, as in “it’s time for” something: 

Huit heures, le suspense prend fin. C'est parti pour quatre heures de réflexion.

Eight o'clock, the suspense is over. Time for four hours of recollection.

Caption 4, Le Journal Le bac

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You can also use c’est parti pour to discuss what you might expect. In the video below, Sophie and Patrice speculate about the weather. Sophie thinks “they are in for" some rain:

Ah mais là, on est parti pour une semaine, hein?

Ah but here, we'll be in it for a week, huh?

Caption 9, Sophie et Patrice La pluie

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Here Sophie replaces c'est with on est. Note, however, that on est parti is usually not an idiomatic expression, but retains its literal meaning (we left):

On est parti de Rome...

We left Rome...

Caption 48, Lionel et Automne Lionel retourne à l'école

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In addition to the phrase c’est parti pour, you can qualify c’est parti with an adverb like bien (well) or mal (badly) to indicate whether things are going to turn out well or badly. So, the expression t’es bien parti means “you’re off to a good start/on the right track”:

Je pense que t'es bien parti.

I think that you're on the right track.

Caption 109, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano Médaillon de Homard - Part 3

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And of course, c’est mal parti means the opposite, “to be off to a bad start," like Amal's awful singing:

C'est très mal parti quand tu... -J'ai fait cinq ans de conservatoire.

It's off to a very bad start when you... -I did five years of conservatory.

Caption 52, Amal et Caroline Je n'aime pas quand tu chantes

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Note that Caroline could have put it another way and said:

T’es très mal partie. 

You’re off to a very bad start.

Finally, you can add the suffix re- and say c’est reparti (here we go again) to indicate repetition, which can be meant as a good thing or a bad thing. In the video below, Nico expresses his frustration with Sam and says:

C'est reparti!

Here we go again!

Caption 19, Extr@ Ep. 4 - Sam trouve du travail - Part 7

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And Barbara is also frustrated with her mother, who does the same annoying thing over and over:

Et voilà, c'était reparti pour l'interrogatoire de police.

And then she went off again with the police interrogation.

Captions 39-40, Mère & Fille La soirée

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As you can see, there are many ways of interpreting c’est parti. In general, it's an idiomatic expression that marks the beginning of an action. With a little practice, you'll be able get a sense of its nuances in context. Keep watching Yabla videos, dear readers, and vous serez bien partis (you’ll be off to a great start)! Thank you for reading!