To talk about the weather in Spanish you need a handful of nouns (sol, lluvia, viento, nieve) and a few adjectives (soleado, nublado, frío). The surprise is the grammar around them: Spanish builds most weather phrases with the verb hacer, the same verb that means to do or to make. Here are the words, with audio, and the three patterns that cover almost everything you will want to say.
The weather words
This is the weather slice of Vocabcord's A1 Spanish set: the things in the sky and the words to describe them. Tap the play button on any row to hear it.
| Spanish | English | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| tiempo | weather | How's the weather today? |
| sol | sun | The sun is shining. |
| lluvia | rain | Rain on the window. |
| nieve | snow | Snow in winter. |
| viento | wind | A strong wind. |
| nube | cloud | Clouds in the sky. |
| caluroso | hot | It's hot today. |
| frío | cold | Cold winter days. |
| cálido | warm | A warm spring day. |
| fresco | cool | Cool evening breeze. |
| soleado | sunny | A sunny morning. |
| lluvioso | rainy | A rainy day. |
| nublado | cloudy | It's cloudy outside. |
| ventoso | windy | A windy afternoon. |
Most weather runs on hacer
Here is the pattern that trips people up. To say it is hot or cold, Spanish uses hacer plus a noun, so it is hace calor (literally it makes heat) and hace frío. The same frame covers hace sol (it is sunny), hace viento (it is windy), and hace fresco (it is cool). To ask, you use the same verb: ¿Qué tiempo hace? means what is the weather like? The adjectives in the table above, like caluroso, describe a thing rather than the day: un verano caluroso is a hot summer.
The sky takes está
When you describe the state of the sky with an adjective, Spanish switches to estar: está nublado (it is cloudy), está despejado (it is clear), está soleado (it is sunny). A useful rule of thumb: reach for hace with a noun (hace sol) and está with an adjective (está soleado). Both are correct, and Spanish speakers move between them without a second thought.
When it actually rains: llueve and nieva
Rain and snow get their own verbs. Llover (to rain) gives you llueve (it rains, or it is raining), and nevar (to snow) gives you nieva. Both change their stem in the middle, which is why the o of llover becomes llueve. For something happening right now, you can also say está lloviendo (it is raining) and está nevando (it is snowing).
The easiest small talk there is
Weather is the universal icebreaker, and it is forgiving: a single phrase like hace mucho calor hoy (it is very hot today) is enough to start a conversation almost anywhere. Because the patterns repeat with every forecast and every passing comment, weather words tend to stick quickly once you start noticing them out loud.
Common questions
How do you talk about the weather in Spanish?
Most weather uses the verb hacer: hace calor (it is hot), hace frío (it is cold), hace sol (it is sunny), hace viento (it is windy). To ask, say ¿Qué tiempo hace? (what is the weather like?).
How do you say 'it's hot' and 'it's cold' in Spanish?
Hace calor for it is hot and hace frío for it is cold. Spanish treats heat and cold as nouns that the weather makes, which is why the verb is hacer rather than ser or estar.
Why does Spanish use hacer for the weather?
It is idiomatic. Where English says it is hot, Spanish says the weather makes heat: hace calor. It is one of the first places learners meet hacer used for something other than to do or to make.
How do you say 'it's raining' in Spanish?
Llueve covers both it rains and it is raining, from the verb llover. For the action happening right now you can also say está lloviendo. Snow works the same way: nieva or está nevando.
