À la Chandeleur, l’hiver cesse ou prend vigueur

Predictive French Expression

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Meaning	On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens.
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Pronunciation		[ah lah sha(n) d(eu) leur lee vehr ses ou pr(n) vee geur]
IPA		[a la ʃã də lœʁ li vɛʁ sɛs u prã vi gœʁ]

Usage notes: À la Chandeleur, l’hiver cesse ou prend vigueur is one of those sayings that predict the weather based on a sometimes arbitrary date or event. It’s pretty straightforward: this is the day that Mother Nature decides to either put an end to winter or give it a boost.

Interestingly, Chandeleur (Candlemas) is on 2 February, which in the US and Canada is also known as Groundhog Day and which has a similar "will-winter-continue-or-has-spring-arrived" weather prediction.

Variations

• À la Chandeleur, l’hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur.
• À la Chandeleur, l’hiver se passe ou prend vigueur.
• À la Chandeleur, l’hiver se meurt ou prend vigueur.

 À noter : 2 February is also le jour des crêpes – learn how to make crêpes

 Related features

• Reading comprehension: La Chandeleur
• Listening comprehension: Histoire de la Chandeleur
• Verb conjugations: Cesser | Mourir | Passer | Prendre
• Vocabulary: Calendar | Weather

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