Talking About the Weather
Talking about the weather · a free Spanish immersion capsule
Useful sentences · 10
Phrases you'll actually use today. Tap Explain for the why behind each one.
Hoy hace mucho calor, ¿verdad?
It's very hot today, right?
Literal Today makes much heat, right?
The impersonal construction 'hacer' is used for weather conditions. The tag question '¿verdad?' invites agreement from the listener.
- 'Hace calor' uses impersonal 'hacer' — no subject required
- '¿Verdad?' is a common tag question seeking confirmation
Parece que va a llover esta tarde.
It looks like it's going to rain this afternoon.
Literal It seems that it's going to rain this afternoon.
'Parece que' signals likelihood or appearance. 'Va a llover' uses the near future construction 'ir a + infinitive'.
- 'Parece que' + clause expresses likelihood
- 'Ir a + infinitive' forms the near future tense
El cielo está muy nublado esta mañana.
The sky is very cloudy this morning.
Literal The sky is very cloudy this morning.
'Estar' is used with weather adjectives to describe current, temporary conditions. 'Nublado' means cloudy.
- Use 'estar' for temporary weather states, not 'ser'
- 'Nublado' is a weather adjective meaning cloudy
En invierno, aquí nieva bastante.
In winter, it snows quite a bit here.
Literal In winter, here it snows quite.
'Nieva' is the impersonal form of 'nevar'. 'Bastante' as an adverb means quite a lot.
- 'Nieva' is impersonal — no subject is used
- 'Bastante' as adverb means 'quite' or 'fairly'
Con este frío, mejor llevar un abrigo.
With this cold, better bring a coat.
Literal With this cold, better carry a coat.
'Mejor + infinitive' gives casual advice without using a direct command. 'Este frío' refers to the current cold weather.
- 'Mejor + infinitive' gives informal advice
- 'Este' agrees with masculine noun 'frío'
¿Qué tiempo hace en tu ciudad normalmente?
What's the weather normally like in your city?
Literal What weather makes in your city normally?
'¿Qué tiempo hace?' is the standard question for asking about weather. 'Normalmente' shifts it toward habitual patterns.
- '¿Qué tiempo hace?' is the idiomatic weather question
- 'Normalmente' adds habitual meaning to the present tense
Me encanta el otoño porque el clima es más fresco.
I love autumn because the weather is cooler.
Literal Autumn enchants me because the climate is more cool.
'Me encanta' means 'I love' (literally 'it enchants me'). 'Más fresco' is a comparative construction meaning cooler.
- 'Me encanta' is an indirect-object construction like 'me gusta'
- 'Más + adjective' forms comparatives in Spanish
Dicen que el fin de semana va a estar despejado.
They say the weekend is going to be clear.
Literal They say that the weekend is going to be clear.
'Dicen que' is used to report what people or forecasts say. 'Despejado' means clear or sunny skies.
- 'Dicen que' reports general hearsay or forecast info
- 'Estar despejado' describes a clear-sky condition
Este verano ha sido más caluroso que el año pasado.
This summer has been hotter than last year.
Literal This summer has been more hot than last year.
Uses the present perfect 'ha sido' to reflect on a recent period. 'Más caluroso que' is a standard comparative.
- Present perfect 'ha sido' reflects on a recent or current period
- 'Más ... que' forms comparisons in Spanish
Con tanta lluvia, no tengo ganas de salir.
With so much rain, I don't feel like going out.
Literal With so much rain, I don't have desire to leave.
'Tanta lluvia' uses 'tanto/a' to express a large amount. 'No tener ganas de' means to not feel like doing something.
- 'Tanto/a + noun' expresses a large quantity
- 'No tener ganas de + infinitive' means not feeling like doing something
New words · 10
Themed vocabulary, each with an example you can borrow.
el tiempo
the weather
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?
What's the weather like today?
'Tiempo' also means 'time' — context clarifies the meaning
nublado
cloudy
El cielo está nublado.
The sky is cloudy.
llover
to rain
Parece que va a llover.
It looks like it's going to rain.
Impersonal verb — always used in third person singular: llueve
el abrigo
the coat
Lleva un abrigo hoy.
Wear a coat today.
caluroso
hot / warm (weather)
El verano es muy caluroso.
The summer is very hot.
despejado
clear (sky)
Mañana estará despejado.
Tomorrow it will be clear.
fresco
cool / fresh
En otoño el clima es más fresco.
In autumn the weather is cooler.
el invierno
winter
En invierno nieva mucho.
In winter it snows a lot.
la lluvia
the rain
Con tanta lluvia, me quedo en casa.
With so much rain, I stay home.
hace calor
it's hot
Hoy hace mucho calor.
It's very hot today.
Impersonal idiom with 'hacer' — cannot be translated word-for-word
Short reading
A tiny story stitched from today's words. Translation is hidden, tap to peek.
Esta mañana, Ana salió a caminar y notó que el cielo estaba completamente nublado. Le escribió un mensaje a su vecina: «Parece que va a llover esta tarde, mejor llevar un paraguas». Su vecina respondió: «Sí, y dicen que el fin de semana va a estar despejado, así que podríamos salir el sábado». Ana sonrió, porque aunque no le gustaba el frío, le encantaba cuando el tiempo mejoraba y todo parecía más fresco.
Sentence by sentence
el cielo estaba completamente nublado
the sky was completely cloudy
'Estar' + adjective describes a temporary state; 'estaba' is the imperfect past of 'estar'.
Parece que va a llover
It looks like it's going to rain
'Parece que' signals likelihood; 'va a llover' uses the near future (ir a + infinitive).
mejor llevar un paraguas
better bring an umbrella
'Mejor + infinitive' gives casual advice without using a direct imperative.
dicen que el fin de semana va a estar despejado
they say the weekend is going to be clear
'Dicen que' introduces reported speech; 'despejado' describes clear sky conditions.
le encantaba cuando el tiempo mejoraba
she loved when the weather improved
'Le encantaba' is the imperfect of 'encantar'; 'mejoraba' is also imperfect, describing a habitual past feeling.
Pattern of the day
One grammar move, explained once, that unlocks dozens of sentences.
Impersonal Weather Expressions with 'Hacer'
In Spanish, many weather conditions are expressed using the impersonal verb 'hacer' (to make/do). There is no subject — where English says 'it is hot', Spanish says 'hace calor' (literally 'makes heat'). This pattern covers heat, cold, wind, and sun.
hace + [weather noun] → it is [weather condition]
Hace calor hoy.
It's hot today.
Hace mucho frío en enero.
It's very cold in January.
Hace viento esta tarde.
It's windy this afternoon.
Hace buen tiempo este fin de semana.
The weather is nice this weekend.
Mini practice · 5
Low-pressure, never graded. Just enough to make it stick.
It's very hot today, isn't it?
Parece que va a llover esta tarde.
En invierno, aquí nieva bastante. Con este frío, mejor llevar un _____.
Hint What do you wear in winter to stay warm?
Which sentence best expresses that the weather will be clear this weekend?
Rewrite in Spanish using 'hacer': 'The weather is cool in autumn'
That’s today’s phraseberry.
Nice work, you understood something real today. Come back tomorrow for a fresh one.
Make one about your own world
This is a ready-made capsule from our library. Sign up free to generate a daily Spanish capsule about any theme you choose, hear it spoken, and save the bits you want to keep.