Talking about the weather is probably one of the most common icebreakers when we’re traveling and we want to make new friends. Today, we will learn when to use SER and ESTAR to talk about the weather.
We will also explore the most common verbs and structures, and useful weather words and expressions to hold a conversation about the weather in Spanish.
This list of common expressions and verb usage is all you need to start talking about the weather with your Spanish-speaking friends and people you meet.
SER and ESTAR to talk about the weather
In Spanish, we use the verb SER to talk about el clima (climate), i.e. to refer to general climate conditions in a particular area at a particular season, and ESTAR to refer to el tiempo (weather), i.e. current weather conditions that are temporary and not very lasting.
Read more about when to use Ser and Estar.
Las estaciones del año (the seasons)
In Argentina (where I’m from), we have four very distinctive seasons:
– El verano (summer) from December 21st to March 21st.
– El otoño (fall) from March 21st to June 21st.
– El invierno (winter) from June 21st to September 21st.
– La primavera (spring) from September 21st to December 21st.
Eg.
– ¿Cómo es el clima en Patagonia en invierno?
What’s the weather like in Patagonia in winter?
– En invierno, en Patagonia hace mucho frío, hay vientos fuertes y nieva mucho.
In winter, Patagonia is very cold, very windy and it snows a lot.
Eg.
– ¿Cómo está el tiempo en tu ciudad hoy?
What’s the weather like in your city today?
– Hoy está frío y nublado.
It’s cold and cloudy today.
Verbs and structures to talk about the weather
1) HABER + NOUN
In Argentina, we use the verb HABER followed by a noun. The verb is invariable in number and person for all tenses, conjugated for the 3rd person singular.
- HAY: presente à Hay sol / Hay nubes.
- HABRÁ: futuro à Habrá sol / Habrá nubes
- HUBO: pretérito indefinido à Hubo sol ayer / Hubo nubes ayer.
- HABÍA: pretérito imperfecto à Había sol / Había nubes
| HABER + NOUN | |
|---|---|
| Weather nouns | Example |
| Sol sun | ¡Qué lindo día! Hoy hay sol What a nice day! It’s sunny today. |
| Nubes clouds | Hoy no hay nubes en el cielo. There are no clouds in the sky today. |
| llovizna/ garúa (LatAm) drizzle | Hay una llovizna molesta. There’s an annoying drizzle. |
| Lluvia rain | Mañana habrá lluvias en la región. There’ll be rain in the area tomorrow. |
| Tormenta storm | Ayer hubo tormenta en la costa. There was a storm on the coast yesterday. |
| niebla/neblina fog/mist | Esta mañana había niebla. It was foggy this morning. |
| Viento wind | Hay mucho viento afuera. It’s very windy outside. |
| Nieve snow | Hay mucha nieve en las calles. There’s a lot of snow on the streets. |
| Granizo hail | Mañana habrá granizo. There’ll be hail tomorrow. |
| Humedad humidity | Hoy hay mucha humedad. It’s very humid today. |
2) HACER + NOUN
In Argentina, only a few very specific nouns are preceded by HACER unlike Spain, where “Hace sol/fresco/viento” is the norm.
Again, the verb is invariable in person and number.
- HACE: presente à Hace calor / Hace frío
- HARÁ: futuro à Hará calor/ Hará frío
- HIZO: pretérito indefinido à Hizo calor / Hizo frío
- HACÍA: pretérito imperfecto à Hacía calor / Hacía frío
| HACER + NOUN | |
|---|---|
| Weather nouns | Example |
| Calor heat | Hoy hace mucho calor, pero mañana hará frío. It’s very hot today, but it’ll be cold tomorrow. |
| Frío Cold weather | Hizo frío ayer en el campo. It was cold yesterday in the countryside. |
| Buen tiempo Good weather | Hoy hace buen tiempo para ir al río. The weather is good to go to the river today. |
| Mal tiempo Bad weather | Ayer hizo mal tiempo. The weather was bad yesterday. |
Eg.
– ¿Cuál es tu estación favorita?
What’s your favorite season?
– Mi estación favorita es el verano.
My favorite season is the summer.
– ¿Por qué te gusta el verano?
Why do you like the summer?
– Me gusta el verano porque hace calor y siempre hay sol.
I like the summer because it’s hot and it’s always sunny.
3) ESTAR + ADJECTIVE
The verb ESTAR is invariable in number and person. We can use it to refer to all tenses. It is followed by an adjective:
- ESTÁ: presente: Está soleado
- ESTARÁ: futuro: Estará soleado.
- ESTUVO: pretérito indefinido: Estuvo soleado
- ESTABA: pretérito imperfecto: Estaba soleado
| ESTAR + ADJECTIVE | |
|---|---|
| Weather adjective | Example |
| Soleado/despejado Sunny/clear | Hoy está soleado/despejado. It’s sunny today. |
| Nublado / Nuboso cloudy | Ayer estuvo muy nublado. It was very cloudy yesterday. |
| Lluvioso rainy | Según el pronóstico del tiempo, mañana estará lluvioso. According to the weather forecast, it will be rainy tomorrow. |
| Ventoso windy | Estaba ventoso esta mañana. It was windy this morning. |
| Cálido / caluroso hot | El día está cálido. The day is hot. (Comfortable hot weather) El día está caluroso. The day is hot. (When it is too hot) |
| Frío / Helado Cold / freezing | Ayer estuvo frío. It was cold yesterday. Hoy está helado. It’s freezing today. |
| Fresco cool | Mañana estará fresco. It’s going to be cool tomorrow. |
| Templado warm | El día está templado. It’s a warm day today. |
| Húmedo humid | Está muy húmedo hoy. It’s very humid today. |
Notice that frío is both a noun and an adjective:
Eg. “Hoy está muy frío”.
“Hoy hace mucho frío”.
4) ESTAR + GERUND
This structure is used to refer to a weather condition that is taking place at the moment of speaking or that was / will be taking place for some time. Remember that ESTAR can be conjugated in all tenses, and its conjugation is invariable (está, estará, estuvo, estaba).
| ESTAR + GERUNDIO | ||
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | Gerund | Example |
| Llover To rain | Lloviendo raining | Está Lloviendo mucho. It’s raining a lot. |
| Nevar To snow | Nevando snowing | Ayer estuvo nevando. It was snowing yesterday. |
| Lloviznar / Garuar To drizzle | Lloviznando / garuando drizzling | Está lloviznando ahora. Está garuando ahora. (LatAm) It’s drizzling now. |
| Granizar To hail | Granizando hailing | Está granizando. It’s hailing. |
| Nublarse To get cloudy | Nublando(se) getting cloudy | Había sol antes, pero ahora se está nublando. It was sunny before, but it’s getting cloudy now. |
| Helar To freeze | Helando freezing | Está helando esta noche. It’s freezing tonight. |
Of course, these verbs can also be conjugated in other tenses besides the gerund, and they are also invariable in number and person, as they refer to external weather conditions.
Eg. Dicen que lloverá mañana.
They say that it will rain tomorrow.
Eg. Ayer nevó mucho.
It snowed a lot yesterday.
Eg. Anoche heló.
It froze last night.
Now, bad weather and storms deserve a different paragraph because there are many different events taking place when a storm breaks.
| LA TORMENTA | ||
|---|---|---|
| HABER + nouns | CAER + noun | VERBS |
| HABER tormenta Hoy hay tormenta en mi ciudad. There’s a storm in my city today. | CAER un rayo /relámpago Cayó un rayo/relámpago en el campo. Lightning struck in the fields. | Relampaguear Está relampagueando mucho. Lightning is flashing heavily. |
| HABER truenos/relámpagos Hay truenos fuertes. There’s strong thunder. | Hubo una tormenta helada y cayó granizo. There was a freezing storm with hail. | Tronar Está tronando. Creo que va a llover. It’s thundering. I think it’s going to rain. |
| HABER un arcoíris Hay un arcoíris precioso. There’s a beautiful rainbow. | CAER una lluvia torrencial Cayó una lluvia torrencial en Valencia. There was a torrential rain in Valencia. |
5) Weather expressions
In Argentina, we use several colloquial expressions when we refer to the weather. If you want to sound local, try these ones!
- Llover a cántaros: to pour down
Eg. ¡Está lloviendo a cántaros! ¿Tienes un paraguas?
It’s pouring down! Do you have an umbrella?
- Morir(se) de frío: freeze to death
Eg. Cierra la ventana, por favor, que me estoy muriendo de frío.
Please, close the window because I’m freezing.
- Hacer un frío que pela: to be very cold
Eg. Estoy helado. Hace un frío que pela.
I’m freezing. It’s very cold.
- Asarse de calor: to suffer from heat
Eg. Hoy está insoportable. Me estoy asando (de calor)
It’s unbearable today. I’m suffering with this heat a lot.
- Ser un horno: To be very hot (like an oven)
Eg. La ciudad es un horno hoy.
The city is very hot today.
