El tiempo y las estaciones
Topic-driven lesson: talking about weather and seasons. The grammatical highlight is that Spanish often uses the IMPERSONAL verb hacer ('it makes') for weather. Hace frío = it's cold (literally 'it makes cold'). Plus a pair of 'it's raining/snowing' verbs (llover, nevar) and descriptions with estar.
Hacer + noun — general weather
hace sol = it's sunny. hace calor = it's hot. hace frío = it's cold. hace viento = it's windy. hace fresco = it's cool. hace buen tiempo = the weather's nice. hace mal tiempo = the weather's bad. All these expressions use hacer in 3rd person singular — the verb doesn't change for subject.
Weather verbs
llover (to rain, with o→ue): llueve = it's raining. nevar (to snow, with e→ie): nieva = it's snowing. tronar = to thunder: truena. All impersonal — only 3rd person singular: Está lloviendo / Está nevando (it's raining/snowing right now). Llovió ayer / Nevó toda la noche.
Estar + adjective — current state
El día está nublado = it's cloudy. El cielo está claro = the sky is clear. Está soleado = it's sunny (variant). Está despejado = it's clear (literally 'cleared up'). Está fresco = it's cool. Alternative way to describe the same weather, via state.
Seasons
la primavera (spring) — March-May. el verano (summer) — June-August. el otoño (fall) — September-November. el invierno (winter) — December-February. En primavera, en verano, en otoño, en invierno. Me gusta el verano más que el invierno.
Temperature and degrees
los grados (degrees). Hace 25 grados = it's 25 degrees. Estamos a 30 grados = it's 30 degrees out. cinco grados bajo cero = five degrees below zero. Hace mucho calor — 35 grados = it's very hot, 35 degrees. Spanish speakers use Celsius, both positive and negative.
Forecasting — the future
Mañana lloverá = it'll rain tomorrow. La semana que viene hará calor = next week it'll be hot. Va a nevar mañana = it's going to snow tomorrow. All three options work: futuro simple, ir + a + inf, or va a with the weather verb.
