# Are use of "c'est du soleil"/"il est du soleil" to be avoided in French? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713 "2016-08-04T06:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/1 "2016-08-04T06:02:33Z")
Hi I’ve seen plenty of blog discussions in French on the topic of anglicisms in French. Are the use of “c’est du soleil”/“il est du soleil” to be avoided in French? Or are they now so commonplace that they are acceptable. I look forward to your feedback ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/2 "2016-08-04T06:24:37Z")
Sorry, but how would this be an Anglicism? “It is of the sun” or “It is the sun’s” is not an idiomatic English expression. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/3 "2016-08-04T06:37:06Z")
Yes. No one uses these phrases. There’s a bit more debate over “il fait du soleil,” versus “il y a du soleil,” but neither of these are crazy wrong. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/4 "2016-08-04T07:26:29Z")
I was always taught that weather terms in French are either about something actively happening or being done (“Il pleut”, “il fait beau”), or generally descriptive (“Il y’a”). Somehow, it feels as though using “être” puts the emphasis on the essential qualities of something which isn’t defined by the “Il” in “Il est du soleil”; though quite what’s defined by the “Il” in “Il y’a” isn’t much clearer (implicitly, perhaps “What I can see”). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/5 "2016-08-04T07:41:43Z")
I think the complaint about it being a Anglicism is that it take an French expression “il fait du soleil,” or “il y a du soleil,” and imposes an English grammar structure on it. Neither “il fait du soleil,” nor “il y a du soleil” translates word-for-word into English. “C’est du soleil” and “il est du soleil” do, but translating directly into good Englsih doesn’t necessarily make something good French. It’s like if someone began insisting that it was wrong to say that clocks run, and the only correct English is to say they “walk,” because the French idiom says so. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/6 "2016-08-04T09:37:08Z")
Neither of these expressions is used in France. Maybe in some other French-speaking country, I wouldn’t know. They aren’t anglicisms, they’re just non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/7 "2016-08-04T10:01:20Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Neither of these expressions is used in France. Maybe in some other French-speaking country, I wouldn’t know. They aren’t anglicisms, they’re just non-existent. Thanks clairobscur. That clears it up for me. As for “Il y a du soleil” vs. “Il fait du soleil”, it seems that the latter is preferred and the former more dated/less preferred/less used. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/8 "2016-08-04T11:26:25Z")
What do these phrases actually mean, and why would they be avoided? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/9 "2016-08-04T12:10:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What do these phrases actually mean, and why would they be avoided? They all purport to mean “It is sunny” but some of them are just not even wrong. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/10 "2016-08-04T12:49:27Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Thanks clairobscur. That clears it up for me. As for “Il y a du soleil” vs. “Il fait du soleil”, it seems that the latter is preferred and the former more dated/less preferred/less used. It’s “il fait soleil” (without “du”). And I can’t see any difference in meaning or use between them. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/11 "2016-08-04T14:45:59Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > It’s “il fait soleil” (without “du”). And I can’t see any difference in meaning or use between them. Thanks clairobscur. That’s what I see in grammar books. I see also discussion on that very topic here. Now I know it sounds odd. Thanks again. Thank you all. > **[il fait / il y a du soleil](https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/il-fait-il-y-a-du-soleil.1557473/)** > > This is a question for the natives. I teach French at a university in the States and a French colleague of mine swears that no native French person uses the expression "Il fait du soleil." Rather, he claims that "Il y a du soleil" is preferred. Not... “I did hear “Il fait du soleil”, but I can’t tell whether this was the expression used before, which went out of use, or it appeared as a mix of two existing expressions. I’d say the latter, though. If your students use it in France, they run the risk to be told that it’s not “standard” or “correct” French… particularly if it’s written” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/12 "2016-08-04T14:52:17Z")
The correct version is: _[Nous sommes du Soleil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKQQ6X5bPA8)_. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/13 "2016-08-04T15:13:39Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > It’s “il fait soleil” (without “du”). And I can’t see any difference in meaning or use between them. > **[Traduire "Quel temps fait-il aujourd'hui? Il fait du soleil/il fait chaud/il...](https://www.anglaisfacile.com/traduire-en-anglais/quel-temps-fait-il-aujourd-hui-il-fait-du-soleil-il-fait-chaud-il-fait-froid-il-pleut-il-fait-du-vent-il-neige_309.htm)** > > Comment Traduire This French website does use “Il fait du soleil”. On some websites I see “du” in brackets. “Il fait (du) soleil” as if to suggest that it’s possible to use it but probably not usual. But “Il y a du vent” seems to be better usage than “Il fait du vent”. Would that be right? ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/14 "2016-08-04T15:19:36Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The correct version is: > > _[Nous sommes du Soleil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKQQ6X5bPA8)_. Yes. Weirdly I am listening to ‘Harold Land’ as I read this thread. Off for a swim in a topographic ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/15 "2016-08-04T19:38:08Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Hi > > I’ve seen plenty of blog discussions in French on the topic of anglicisms in French. > Are the use of “c’est du soleil”/“il est du soleil” to be avoided in French? Or are they now so commonplace that they are acceptable. > I look forward to your feedback Where in the Francophone world have you heard that ?! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/16 "2016-08-04T20:45:51Z")
> [@qpw3141](#): > > Weirdly I am listening to ‘Harold Land’ as I read this thread. > > Off for a swim in a topographic ocean. 😃 Mon travail ici est accompli. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/17 "2016-08-04T21:37:47Z")
\*Adieu Adieu Soleil cou coupé\* ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-use-of-cest-du-soleil-il-est-du-soleil-to-be-avoided-in-french/761713/18 "2016-08-04T21:42:26Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The correct version is: > > _[Nous sommes du Soleil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKQQ6X5bPA8)_. Yes. Yes. 🙂 This is what was going through my head, too.