A key topic of conversation when studying Spanish is the weather. This article will help you know how to describe the weather and which verbs to use, alongside correct expressions and the most common mistakes when talking about the weather in Spanish.
But before we start, let’s see how to ask about the weather. To do this, we can ask questions like this:
- ¿Qué día hace hoy? (What kind of day is it today?)
- ¿Cómo está el día hoy? (How is the day today?)
- ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? (How is the weather today?)
Verbs to describe the weather
To talk about the weather, we use the verbs hacer, estar and haber but… when are they used?
- Hacer (to make/to do): Used to describe general weather conditions, such as «hace sol» (it’s sunny), «hace calor» (it’s hot), or «hace frío» (it’s cold). It’s always used in the third person singular + a noun and is usually related to feeling.
- Estar (to be): Used for specific contexts, for example, “it is cloudy”, “it is raining”. Furthermore, as we can see in these examples, it uses the third person followed by adjectives or verbs in the gerund. Remember: The gerund is the non-finite form of the verb that ends in -ndo, like “lloviendo, nevando, tronando.”
- Haber (to have): This verb is used to talk about meteorological phenomena that occur or follow elements that we see, such as: «hay nubes» (it’s cloudy), «hay un arcoíris» (there’s a rainbow), «hay tormenta» (there’s a storm) or «hay niebla» (it’s foggy)
Some examples are:
- Mi estación del año favorita es el verano, porque normalmente el cielo está despejado, hace sol y no hay nubes (My favorite season is summer, because normally the sky is clear, it’s sunny and there are no clouds).
- Los días en los que hay mucho viento son perfectos para volar cometas en el parque (Windy days are perfect for flying kites in the park).
- Me gusta ir a correr, aunque el cielo esté cubierto de nubes/esté nublado (I like to go running, even if the sky is covered in clouds/it’s cloudy).
- No me gusta viajar en invierno porque hace mal tiempo, hace frío y a veces hay niebla. Cuando hace mucho frío nieva y graniza. Además, por las noches hiela (I don’t like travelling in winter because the weather is bad, it’s cold and sometimes it’s foggy. When it is very cold it snows and hails, and at night, it freezes).
- Mi perro se asusta cuando el cielo se nubla, hay tormenta y caen relámpagos (My dog gets scared when the sky gets cloudy, there’s a storm and lightning strikes).
- Me gusta pasear cuando hace buen tiempo y el cielo está despejado (I like to walk when the weather is good and the sky is clear).
- Durante el verano, en República Dominicana hay huracanes (During the summer, there are hurricanes in the Dominican Republic).
However, sometimes we can find exceptions:
We can use more than one verb: For example, to talk about a specific temperature we can say: Hace tres grados OR hay tres grados (It’s three degrees).
Confusion among students
Sometimes, the same questions are repeated time and time again among Spanish students. Some of them are:
– ¿Hace sol o hay sol?: Although both expressions may seem correct, the usual way to express it in Spanish is «hace sol» (it’s sunny) Using «hace» in this context represents the sun’s action in influencing weather conditions, rather than simply its presence.
– ¿Está lloviendo o hace lluvia?: The correct way to refer to ongoing precipitation is «está lloviendo» (it’s raining). The construction «hace lluvia» is not grammatically correct, since rain is an event and not a general atmospheric condition, like heat or cold.
– ¿Es frío o hace frío?: To answer this question, we must consider that the word “cold” can be both an adjective and a noun:
- If “frío” is a noun, we say “Hace frío” – Hace mucho frío en mi casa.
- If “frío” is an adjective, we say “Está frío” – El hielo está frío.
– ¿Hace calor o es calor?: However, “calor” is a noun, so the correct expression is always “hace calor” – Hace calor en casa.
Remember: The adjective for calor is “caliente” – El horno está caliente.
– The incorrect use of “hay”: Some students use “hay” to refer to weather conditions incorrectly, such as “hay calor”. The correct version is “hace calor”, since it is a sensation of the body.
– Make literal translations: Another common mistake is translating literally from English to Spanish. For example: translating “it’s sunny” as «es soleado» when the correct version is «hace sol».
Tips to improve
– Practice with weather forecasts: Listening to and repeating weather forecasts in Spanish can help you become familiar with the correct vocabulary and grammatical structures.
– Conversations about the weather: Talking about the weather in Spanish with native speakers or learning partners is a good way to practise. Remember that you can always take advantage of classes with our internship students!
In conclusion, talking about the weather in Spanish involves knowing and correctly applying different verbs and expressions. Although it may be difficult at first, with practice and attention to detail, you will be able to master it.
Don’t be caught without your umbrella and make sure to practise every chance you get!
Martina Dioletta
Translated from the Spanish version written by Sara Castanedo.
References:
BurbujaDELEspañol. (2023, 12 enero). Vocabulario del Clima y Tiempo Atmosférico en español | Verbos y Expresiones – Hablar sobre el clima [Vídeo]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG10G1DV6O0
Gianella. (2024, 12 enero). El clima | Vocabulario del tiempo atmosférico y uso de ‘muy’ y ‘mucho’ — Spanish. Spanish Connected. https://spanishconnected.com/vocabulario-del-tiempo-atmosferico/#:~:text=Los%20verbos%20para%20hablar%20del%20clima%20en%20espa%C3%B1ol,-En%20el%20mundo&text=Cuando%20queremos%20preguntar%20por%20el,buen%20tiempo%2C%20hace%20mal%20tiempo.
Tu escuela de español. (2018, 6 enero). Aprender español: Clima y tiempo atmosférico (nivel básico) [Vídeo]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sflpAtdTmY
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