idiom question

Question

Why was "il ferait du soleil" marked as partially correct (as opposed to "il ferait beau")?

Accepted Answer

Hi Marian,
The accepted answers in the Kwiz are -

(juste) au cas où il ferait beau 
(juste) au cas où il y aurait du soleil

Let me refer you to the following Kwiziq pages entitled 'talking about the weather' and in particular to the note Aurélie makes about the expressions, faire (du) soleil. 
Talking about the weather with il y a + [noun]
Talking about the weather with il fait + [adjective]
Bonne Continuation!

Answer

“Il fait” should be followed by an adjective, hence il fait beau, il fait chaud, il fait bon - just as in English we would say “It is fine/sunny”.

“Il y a” is followed by a noun. Il y a du soleil is grammatically correct but il fait du soleil isn’t.

Remember “il y a” establishes a “fact”; “il fait” describes (the weather).

However, il fait du soleil/du vent etc is in use colloquially by some and can be heard ‘on the street’.