How to talk confidently about the weather | A Coffee Break with Anabel - Coffee Break Spanish

Summary

Summary of "How to Talk Confidently About the Weather | A Coffee Break with Anabel"

Released on July 17, 2025, Coffee Break Spanish offers learners concise and practical lessons to build their Spanish proficiency. In this episode, host Anabel delves into the nuances of discussing the weather in Spanish, addressing common challenges and providing clear, actionable insights.

Introduction

At the outset of the episode (00:48), Anabel welcomes listeners to a mini-lesson focused on one of the most common yet tricky topics for Spanish learners: talking about the weather. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the different verbs used in Spanish compared to English, setting the stage for a comprehensive exploration of weather-related vocabulary and structures.

Using "Hacer" for Temperature and General Weather Conditions

Anabel begins by explaining the primary use of the verb "hacer" when discussing the weather in Spanish. She highlights that "hacer" is employed when referring to temperature and general weather conditions.

Temperature Expressions:
Anabel states, “If we are talking about temperature, then we are going to be using hacer” (02:10).
Example:
- Hoy hace calor, porque hace treinta y seis grados.
  (Today it's hot because it's 36 degrees.)
Windy Conditions:
Addressing potential confusion, Anabel clarifies that even when describing wind, "hacer" remains the correct verb.
- Hace viento.
  (It's windy.)
  She asserts, “hacer for temperature… that's why it's windy also uses hacer” (04:30), reinforcing the consistency in verb usage.

Using "Estar" for Sky Appearance

Transitioning to the verb "estar," Anabel explains its specific application in describing the appearance of the sky.

Cloudy:
- Está nublado.
  (It's cloudy.)
Clear Sky:
- Está despejado.
  (It's clear.)
Sunny:
- Está soleado (commonly used)
  - However, she notes, “the preferred option in Spain is hace sol. However, both are correct” (05:45), providing regional variations for learners to be aware of.

Anabel emphasizes, “estar is used to talk about the sky appearance” (05:10), distinguishing it from "hacer."

Weather-Specific Verbs

Expanding the vocabulary, Anabel introduces essential weather verbs, drawing parallels to their English counterparts.

To Rain:
- Está lloviendo.
  (It is raining.)
To Snow:
- Va a nevar.
  (It's going to snow.)
To Hail:
- Va a granizar.
  (It's going to hail.)

She demonstrates conjugation in context:

Está lloviendo y mañana va a nevar.
(It is raining and tomorrow it's going to snow.) (06:30).

The Phrase "Hace Tiempo"

Anabel introduces the expression "hace tiempo" to describe the overall condition of the weather, whether it's good or bad.

Describing Weather Quality:
- Hace muy buen tiempo.
  (It's very good weather.)
- Hace mal tiempo.
  (It's bad weather.)

She explains, “hace plus tiempo and that tiempo as weather, not time” (07:20), clarifying its usage beyond temporal contexts.

Recap and Practical Application

Before concluding, Anabel recaps the key points to reinforce learning:

"Hacer" is used for temperature and general weather conditions.
"Estar" describes the sky's appearance.
Weather verbs like llover, nevar, and granizar are essential for specific conditions.
"Hace tiempo" helps describe the overall quality of the weather.

She then engages listeners by prompting them to describe the current weather in their location:
“¿Qué tiempo hace hoy allí? Aquí la verdad es que está un poco nublado. Pero a mí me gusta porque no hace mucho frío.*” (08:20)
(How is the weather today there? Here, the truth is it's a bit cloudy. But I like it because it's not too cold.)

Conclusion

Anabel wraps up the lesson by encouraging listeners to subscribe for more content and to sign up for the newsletter to receive regular mini-lessons directly in their inbox. She leaves listeners with a motivational note:
"Espero que hayan disfrutado el episodio de hoy. Mucho ánimo como siempre y hasta la próxima. Adiós."
(I hope you have enjoyed today's episode. Much encouragement as always and until next time. Goodbye.) (08:50)

Key Takeaways

Verbs Matter: Understanding when to use "hacer" versus "estar" is crucial for accurate weather descriptions in Spanish.
Expand Vocabulary: Familiarize yourself with weather-specific verbs to express various conditions effectively.
Practice Makes Perfect: Regularly describe the weather in your locale using the structures learned to build confidence and fluency.

Notable Quotes:

“If we are talking about temperature, then we are going to be using hacer.” — Anabel (02:10)
“Está nublado.” (It's cloudy) — Anabel (05:00)
“Hace muy buen tiempo.” (It's very good weather.) — Anabel (07:30)
“Espero que hayan disfrutado el episodio de hoy.” (I hope you have enjoyed today's episode.) — Anabel (08:50)

By focusing on these foundational aspects of weather-related Spanish, Anabel equips learners with the tools to confidently discuss one of the most ubiquitous topics in everyday conversation.

Transcript

A (0:00)

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B (0:30)

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C (0:48)

Welcome to Coffee Break Spanish yo so y Anabel. My name is Anabel and I am very happy to be in this episode with you here at Coffee Break Spanish. We are enjoying working on our next podcast series for you, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this mini lesson. If this happens to be the very first episode of Coffee Break Spanish you are listening to, you should know that you can go back and learn Spanish right from the beginning by ordering the podcast episodes from the oldest and starting with Coffee Break Spanish Season one. As for this lesson, I would like to talk about something that in my experience is one of the biggest difficulties to learner of Spanish. It is the weather. This is so because in Spanish we use different verbs to English when we talk about the weather, but not always. So that's why I thought it would be nice to revise some common structures today. Perfecto pues. Here are a few basic expressions or structures that will help you remember which verb we have to use in Spanish when talking about the weather. And we are going to start with hacer because hacer, as you may know, it's commonly used when talking about the weather, but not always. That's when the tricky part comes. However, here is my tip for you. If we are talking about temperature, then we are going to be using hacer. And temperature is saying the degrees, saying if it's cold or if it's hot, that is temperature. And in these cases we use hacer. For example hoy hace calor, porque hace treenta y seis grados. Today it's hot because it's 36 degrees. In English we are saying it's hot, it's 36 degrees. So we are using the verb to be. But in Spanish we use Hacer hace calor, hace trenta y seis grados. Perfecto. Now there is one that it could look like an exception, but it is not. It is. It's windy. To say it's windy in Spanish we use hacer. It's windy is hace biento. However, I don't think this is an exception. I love hiking and being outside. And every time that I am planning my hike, I always check the temperature. I always check if it's going to rain and I always check if it's going to be windy. Because if it's windy, believe me, it's going to be colder. So it changes. It has an impact on the temperature. So here is my tip for you to remember that it's windy also uses hacer in Spanish. So hacer for temperature. Now we also use estar in Spanish and we are going to use estar when we are talking about the appearance of the sky, how the sky looks like. For example, if it's cloudy, we can see the clouds in the sky. Then we are going to use estar. It's cloudy is esta nublado. If it's clear. Again, talking about the sky appearance, then we are going to say esta de espejado. And if we can see the sun, we can say esta soledado. Here I have a note and it's that it's sunny is esta soledado. But the preferred option in Spain is hace sol. However, both are correct. So estar is used to talk about the sky appearance. Now we also have weather verbs in Spanish, just like in English we have yober to rain, nevar to snow, and granizar to hell. And remember that these are verbs, so we are going to conjugate them when we use them in a sentence. For example, esta yo biendo y manana ba ane bar, estayo biendo, it is raining y manana. And tomorrow ba a ne bar it's going to snow. Fantastico. Espero chem esteciiendo. I hope you are following because we are just going to see the last structure which is hace tiempo. So hace plus tiempo and that tiempo as weather, not time, but weather. This is used to describe how the weather is, like if it's good weather, if it's bad weather, or how is the weather. So for example, que tiempo hace hoy. So here we have tiempo and then we are going to use hace. The verb hacer que tiempo hace Oy, how is the weather today? Or for example hace muy buen tiempo? It's very good weather. La mayor parte de los temas. I think we have covered the majority of the topics that we can use to talk about the weather. Let's recap before we finish we are going to use hacer when we talk about the temperature estar when we talk about the sky appearance. We also have weather verbs like to rain, to snow, to hell. And we are going to use hace when we are talking about the weder in the sense of tiempo if it's good or bad weather or asking how is the weather. So for those cases we use hacer again. Now, very quickly, I'm going to give you some seconds to tell me a little bit about how the weather is like there where you are. Que tiempo hace hoy aji. How is the weather today there? Aqui la verdad es que esta un poco nu blado. Pero ami me porque no hace mucho frio here it's a little bit cloudy but I like it because it's not too cold. Puesso creo ques todo puraora. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you are listening to this episode for more content like this one. Also, if you would like to keep improving your Spanish, you can receive regular free mini lessons straight to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter. Just go to coffeebreaklanguages.com Spanish Ahora si eso estodo por ahora. I hope you have enjoyed today's episode. Mucho animo como siempre y esta la proxima. Adios.