Five-minute Spanish Lessons - comparing the two languages. Lesson 3.

Talking about the weather.

It is an anecdote that the British talk more about the weather than any other nationality. This could be because the weather provides a lot to talk about in the British Isles! Let's compare weather phrases between English and Spanish.

Most weather statements in English begin with the subject "It" and the verb used is usually "to be" or "there is / are" while in Spanish the verb is usually "hacer", "estar" or "haber" ("hay" etc.):

What's the weather like today?
¿Qué tiempo hace hoy?

or,

¿Cómo está el tiempo?

It's very cold and cloudy
Hace mucho frío y está nublado

There was a lot of mist on the road yesterday
Ayer había bastante neblina en la carretera

If it's not fine tomorrow, that'll mean the excursion to the mountains is off
Si no hace buen tiempo mañana, se acabó la excursión a la sierra

What awful weather in Scotland; it doesn't stop snowing
Qué mal tiempo hace en Escocia; no deja de nevar

It's been lovely weather throughout the whole holiday
Ha hecho un tiempo precioso durante todas la vacaciones 

or,

We've had lovely weather...
El tiempo ha estado precioso...

Also possible is:

Nos ha hecho un tiempo precioso...

However, as is usual with "ser" and "estar" the latter talks about changing events whereas "ser" is used when we talk about what is usual:

Últimamente, el tiempo ha estado fatal con lluvias y humedad.

Qué raro, normalmente el tiempo / el clima es bueno aquí.

Lately, the weather's been terrible with rain and damp.

How strange, the weather / the climate is usually good here.

Let's just compare the tenses of "to be" / "hacer" for talking about the weather:

It + be + adjective	Hacer + noun
It's sunny today (continuous not possible in English with verb "to be") It's being sunny	Hace sol hoy But also possible in Spanish is the continuos: Está haciendo sol
It's been sunny all week	Ha hecho sol toda la semana
It was sunny yesterday	Hacía sol ayer or, Hizo sol
It'll be sunny tomorrow or, It's going to be sunny tomorrow	Habrá sol mañana or, Va ha haber sol mañana
It may / might / could be sunny tomorrow	Puede que haga sol mañana

Differences in use of 'weather words' are the following not to confuse:

It was scorching / sweltering all day but now it's cooled off
Ha hecho un calor sofocante todo el día pero ahora ha refrescado

It's very humid in Florida
Es muy húmedo en Florida

but,

It's damp and cold in Britain at Christmas
Es húmedo y frío en Gran Bretaña en Navidades

(so, "humid" in English is usually just used when it's hot)

Another interesting word for "humid" or "damp" is "muggy"

I'm fed up with this muggy weather
Estoy harto de este tiempo bochornoso

The day's become very overcast
El día se ha puesto muy cubierto / nublado

I finish with the wisdom of some weather proverbs:

English...

Red sky in the morning: shepherd's warning.
Red sky at night: shepherd's delight.

(which means that if the morning sky is red, it's going to rain that day but if the sky is red when at sunset, the next day is going to be fine)

The Spanish have a proverb for the second part:

El cielo rojo por la noche anuncia buen tiempo

Make the best of a bad job 

Al mal tiempo buena cara

Spain has weather proverbs for each month of the year. here are two...

Hasta el 14 de mayo no te quites el sayo

(Don't take off your cape until 14th May as the weather can still get cold)

En febrero, busca la sombra el perro; y en marzo, su amo.

(It gets hot enough in Spain in February for a dog to look for shade and in March his master does the same.)