Over the past two years of my time abroad in Spain, there have been countless moments when bringing up the weather has saved me from otherwise uncomfortable silences with Spaniards.
Luckily, the weather in Madrid is sporadic enough (and extreme enough) to always be a relevant topic when I find myself grasping at straws to make small talk.
In this blog post, you’ll learn 88 weather expressions in Spanish so you can say more than just “it’s hot” and “it’s cold.”
Contents
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How to Ask About the Weather in Spanish
Like English, there are multiple ways to ask about the weather in Spanish. Here are a few you’ll hear and use all the time:
Spanish Weather Words
Spanish Weather Expressions with Hacer
Spanish Weather Expressions with Haber
Spanish Weather Expressions with Estar
Other Spanish Weather Expressions
May 40th is a silly way of saying June 9th.
This extremely madrileño (from Madrid) phrase refers to the fact that Madrid weather can be a bit fickle so you shouldn’t assume there will be no rain or cold just because the summer weather seems to have arrived.
Sayo is an old-fashioned Spanish word meaning “smock” or “tunic” but would refer to a sweater in modern times.
Using El Tiempo vs. El Clima to Talk About Weather in Spanish
In Spanish, the word tiempo is extremely versatile. Depending on the context, it can be used to mean any one of the following:
- Time
- Weather
- A moment
- An era
- A half (in a sports event entretiempo or medio tiempo is “half-time”)
- Cycle (think wash cycle for clothing)
- Tempo or movement (music)
- Tense (grammar)
Note that the Spanish word clima is preceded by the masculine article el despite its feminine a ending. Many words break the gender rule like this in Spanish and must be memorized.
In English, “climate” isn’t used to talk about current weather conditions. But in Spanish, el clima can be used interchangeably with el tiempo in small talk.
However, it’s also used to talk about climate like in English.
Thanks to all these Spanish weather expressions, you’ll finally have a linguistic umbrella to bring to every Spanish conversation.
You’ll be prepared, rain or shine!
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
