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Five Minute Study - SPANISH and ENGLISH compared Guía de la gramática inglesa...
En estas lecciones breves se comparan el inglés hablado y coloquial con el español con el fin de ayudar al estudiante a apreciar tanto las diferencias como las similitudes lingüísticas entre los dos idiomas.
Talking about the weather / Hablando del tiempo
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 or, We've had lovely weather... Ha hecho un tiempo precioso durante todas la vacaciones 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:
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.)
For more proverbs see proverb pages...
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